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''Pokémon Unite'' (stylized as ''Pokémon UNITE'') is a 2021
free-to-play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of Gamer, players compete on a structured battlefield, each controlling a single Player character, character with distinctive abilit ...
video game developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by
The Pokémon Company , simply known as Pokémon is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, which consists of video games, a trading card game, anime television series, f ...
for Android,
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
, and
Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...
. It was announced in a ''Pokémon'' Presents presentation on 24 June 2020 as a partnership between The Pokémon Company and TiMi Studio Group owner
Tencent Games Tencent Games () is the video game publishing subdivision of Tencent Interactive Entertainment, the digital entertainment division of Tencent Holdings. It has five internal studio groups, including TiMi Studio Group. Tencent Games was founde ...
. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch on 21 July 2021, and was released for Android and iOS in 73 countries on 22 September 2021. As of August 2022, the game has been downloaded over 80 million times across all platforms.


Gameplay

''Pokémon Unite'' is a multiplayer online battle arena game in the manner of TiMi's previous title ''Honor of Kings'', with standard matches consisting of two teams, each with 5 players. Each match is limited to 10 minutes in duration, and the team with the highest total score by the end of each match wins. If there is a tie, the team that reached the final score first (i.e. was previously leading in points) wins. A team can also win if the opposing team surrenders, which can only occur once the match reaches the halfway mark, and only if a
supermajority A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fun ...
of one team votes to surrender. There are limited time events with special rules, and a game mode called Quick Battle, 5 minute matches on smaller maps with 3-4 players per team and some changes to the rules. Each player starts a match controlling a relatively weak Pokémon. The Pokémon may become stronger and gain access to new "moves" by capturing wild Pokémon, helping defeat wild Pokémon that their teammate captures, scoring a goal (with the amount of Experience gained varying depending on the number of points scored) and knocking out enemy player Pokémon. The "type" system common in other ''Pokémon'' games, a system similar to
rock paper scissors Rock, Paper, Scissors (also known by #Names, several other names and word orders) is an Intransitive game, intransitive hand game, usually played between two people, in which each player simultaneously forms one of three shapes with an outstret ...
that determines each Pokémon's effectiveness against others, is absent from ''Pokémon Unite''. However, the game includes a new mechanic to the series known as "Unite Moves", which are moves similar to Ultimate moves in other MOBAs, and are unique to each Pokémon and are unlocked at certain levels depending on the Pokémon. Currently the game has over 62 playable Pokémon. Aside from the gameplay, ''Pokémon Unite'' differs from other MOBAs by lacking an in-game
scoreboard A scoreboard is a large board for publicly displaying the score (sport), score in a game. Most levels of sport from high school and above use at least one scoreboard for keeping score, measuring time, and displaying statistics. Scoreboards i ...
, to discourage players from leaving the game out of frustration when they are losing in score; instead, the current score is implied through announcements at specific times of the match, specifically at 5 minutes to the end of the match, 3 minutes to the end of the match, two minutes before the end of the match and one minute before the end of the match. For instance, if the "We have a huge lead!" announcement is played, it means that one's own team is leading the score by 100 points or more, while if the "We're REALLY struggling!" announcement is played, it means that one's own team is trailing by 100 points or more.


Development

TiMi, a Chinese video game developer, began a
closed beta test The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...
in January 2021. This test was limited to select players in China. In February 2021, The Pokémon Company announced that another closed beta test would be scheduled for March 2021, this time specifically for
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
Android smartphone users. The reveal of ''Pokémon Unite'' was controversial, with outlets discussing the game's potential to open a new competitive gaming scene to a fresh audience. The
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
video of the announcement quickly became the most disliked video on
The Pokémon Company , simply known as Pokémon is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, which consists of video games, a trading card game, anime television series, f ...
's YouTube channel. The Nintendo Switch version of the game was officially released on 21 July 2021. The mobile versions for iOS and Android have been released as of 22 September 2021. TiMi plans to continue development of the game after its official release, such as offering new playable Pokémon as
downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
, the first of which became available for players on 28 July 2021.


In esports

In January 2022, it was officially confirmed by producer Masaaki Hoshino that the game would be part of the Pokémon World Championships taking place in August, joining the main series games (known as VGC), the TCG, ''
Pokémon Go ''Pokémon Go'' (stylized as ''Pokémon GO'') is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game originally developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. It uses mobile devic ...
'', and ''
Pokkén Tournament is a 2015 Fighting game, fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game combines gameplay elements from Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' series and other fighting games, such as 3D and 2D movement, with characters from the ''Poké ...
'''s last Championship Series season. In a statement on the game's official website, he also stated that a tournament mode is in development, wherein the playing field would be evened for all competitors, regardless of the grade of their items. The tournament mode was eventually released on 20 January 2022. In the same month, the game was used as part of the
AKB48 Group , or AKB48 sister groups, shortened to 48 Group or 48g, refers to the sister groups of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. Based on the same concept "idols you can meet", it currently consists of five sister groups in locations across Japan and ...
Invitational tournament, which in turn formed part of the Pokémon Battle Festival Asia online event, hosted by ESL Asia.
MNL48 MNL48 (read as ''M.N.L. Forty-eight'') is a Filipino idol girl group based in Manila, Philippines, and formed in 2018, they are the fourth international sister group of AKB48, after Indonesia's JKT48, China's SNH48 (''former''), and Thailand' ...
's Team Padayon won the event after they defeated
BNK48 BNK48 (read ''B.N.K. Forty-eight'') is a Thai Teen idol, idol Musical ensemble, girl group and the third international sister group of Japan's AKB48, following Indonesia's JKT48 and China's SNH48 (''Former''). After holding its first audition i ...
's Yummy Remote 3-1 in the Grand Finals. For the first season of the Pokémon Unite Championship Series, there were 11 supported Regional Zones: North America, Mexico, Central America, South America-West, South America-East, Japan, South Korea, Europe, Oceania, India, and the Asia-Pacific regions. Players must be 16 or 18 to register, depending on their Regional Zone. In each month, in the lead up to the World Championships, a series of tournaments in each Regional Zone will be held. Like other games held in the World Championships, teams will be awarded championship points (CP), and the CP can be kept by players to allow team changes as the season progresses. The top 8 teams in CP from each Regional Zone before June qualify for a spot in the Regional Championships. The Regional Championships begin with a
round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & ...
, with teams split into four groups, before switching to a
double-elimination tournament A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimin ...
for the finals. The top performing teams in the finals qualify for the World Championships. North American team BLVKHVND won the first Unite Championship Series title in August 2022 in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and in August 2023, the same North American team, now competing under
Luminosity Gaming Luminosity Gaming is a professional esports organization based in North America. It has teams competing in ''Call of Duty, Overwatch, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege'', ''Super Smash Bros.'', ''Fortnite,'' ''Apex Legends'', ''Rocket League'', ' ...
, won the second Unite Championship Series in
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
. Japanese team Fennel became the first non-North-American team to win the Unite Championship Series, doing so in August 2024 in
Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
, Hawaii by defeating South Korean team XoraTigersGaming 3-0.


Reception

''Pokémon Unite'' received "mixed or average" reviews, according to
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
. ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' gave the game a 6/10, criticizing some
microtransaction Microtransaction (mtx) refers to a business model where users can purchase in-game virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransactions ...
s as enabling
pay-to-win "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...
gameplay. The game's microtransactions have also been criticized for their price, specifically, one of the customizable options for one of the Pokémon, Alolan Ninetales, costing US$40. This would also happen again with a Halloween-exclusive skin for the Pokémon Lucario, as well as a Christmas-themed skin for
Pikachu Pikachu (; Japanese: , Hepburn: ) is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's ''Pokémon'' media franchise, and the franchise's mascot. First introduced in the video games ''Pokémon Red'' and ''Blue'', it was created by Atsuko N ...
. In response to discussions about the game on social media amongst fans, The Pokémon Company—through the official ''Pokémon Unite''
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account—promoted a survey for feedback from fans to improve the game. By 16 September 2021, the game had been downloaded over 9 million times on the Switch, with over 7.5 million mobile pre-registrations prior to the 22 September mobile release. By 1 October, research company Sensor Tower reported that ''Unite'' has been downloaded 30 million times for mobile devices, while The Pokémon Company confirmed that the game has been downloaded over 25 million times on all platforms by 4 October. On 6 December 2021, The Pokémon Company announced that the downloads figure had reached 50 million. It was further confirmed that the game passed the 70 million downloads mark in April 2022, and 80 million by August 2022.


Awards

''Pokémon Unite'' won awards for "Best Game" at Google Play's ''Best of 2021'', and " Mobile Game of the Year" at the
25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards The ''25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards'' was the 25th edition of the D.I.C.E. Awards ("Design Innovate Communicate Entertain"), an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 2021 in video games, 2021. The awards ...
. The game also received a nomination for "Best Mobile Game" during the 2021 Game Awards.


References


External links

*
Promotional website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokemon Unite Free-to-play video games 2021 video games Android (operating system) games IOS games Nintendo Switch games Multiplayer online battle arena games Real-time strategy video games Unite Video games developed in China Video games set on fictional islands Tencent Video games with cross-platform play TiMi Studio Group games