Image via The Pokémon Company
Back in August, Pokémon UNITE had its final showing at the Pokémon World Championships. It was a bittersweet celebration of the game, leaving many fans worried about what would come next. Now, The Pokémon Company has confirmed the news we feared: Pokémon UNITE is shutting down, with the full end of service set for March 2027. Though not entirely surprising given the announcement that the game wouldn’t be at Worlds in future years, this is nevertheless devastating news for those who’ve poured years of time and money into the game.
In a heartbreaking update, the team behind Pokémon UNITE confirmed that the game will reach end of service on March 23rd, 2027. The game first released for Nintendo Switch back in 2021, meaning it will have just under a 6-year run by the time it fully shuts down next year. As is tradition with these game shutdown announcements, in-game purchases have been suspended effective immediately. That means no more Aoes Gem Sales, new paid membership, or automatic renewals. Here’s the full breakdown of what the Pokémon UNITE shutdown will look like.
What to Expect From Pokémon UNITE End of Service
As with many live service games, Pokémon UNITE will be pretty much entirely unplayable once it hits end of service. However, there will be a Library feature that lets players continue to view their records and in-game content, including their Pokémon and holowear. This requires a one-time download prior to the game’s full shutdown. In terms of actual gameplay, though, you will no longer be able to log in or battle in Pokémon UNITE. So, the library feature is really just a consolation for those who paid for in-game cosmetics, memberships, etc.
Though the game is shutting down, players do have a few more months to enjoy it before it goes offline. In-game purchases will no longer be available, but those who currently have paid memberships will still get those benefits until end of service on March 27th, 2027. You won’t be charged for the monthly membership fee going forward.
The game will also get one more competitive tournament, the Pokémon UNITE Aoes Crown 2027 Tokyo Competitive Tournament. Qualifiers for this last hurrah start on December 5th of this year. In addition, players can look forward to a special event update, which starts on November 12th. This update adds the library feature for players who want to retain their records and holowear collections. It also adds a new Coin Exchange that lets you buy cosmetics and other items that previously appeared in the game. So if you want to make sure your library is nice and full before shutdown, you can participate in these limited-time missions to earn cosmetics for free.
Alas, it’s the end of an era for the Pokémon MOBA and those who loved it. It will be interesting to see whether this means there’s another mobile/live service Pokémon game in the works, or if the company is just trimming its portfolio after the launch of Pokémon Champions earlier this year. For now, all we know is that Pokémon UNITE will sadly be no more as of March 2027.
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