Pokémon Unite pits Pokémon in a 5v5 battle arena game for mobile

It may not seem that long ago, but Pokémon GO launched almost exactly 4 years ago. The game is not the insane phenomenon that it was that first summer, but it’s still one of the most played mobile games on the market. The latest Pokémon title for mobile is a DOTA-style arena battle game called Pokémon Unite.

Pokémon Unite is developed by Tencent, the company behind other popular games such as PUBG Mobile, Call of Duty Mobile, and Honor of Kings. It’s a free-to-play game for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, Android included, of course. It’s similar in concept to MOBA games like DOTA and League of Legends.

Gameplay consists of teams of 5 battling against each other in different arenas. Players will pick a Pokémon at the start of the game and in true Pokémon fashion, your pocket monsters evolve and gain new abilities as you play. Multiplayer crossplay means you can play with people regardless of which device they use.

The idea with games like DOTA is that there are tons of characters for players to choose from, which is obviously something Pokémon has in spades. One big difference between Pokémon Unite and other Pokémon titles is that the monsters won’t have type advantages. That’s what gives water Pokémon advantages over fire Pokémon. In this game, those advantages will be removed to make the strategy simpler.

Another difference between Unite and DOTA is that you’re not “killing” other characters to earn coins. Instead, you are capturing the Pokémon. In other MOBA games your HP recovers if you don’t take damage for a while, but in Unite you have to return to the friendly base to heal.

A release date or timeframe for the launch was not given, only that there will be “more details in the future.” Pokémon games are very popular and the idea that you can play Unite across the Switch and mobile devices is very cool. We’re excited to learn more.