Pokémon Unite, a new Tencent MOBA team battle game, announced

The Pokémon Company held its second Pokémon Presents today, showing off a brand new MOBA game. Called Pokémon Unite, it is the first “strategic team-based Pokémon battle game” from Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Teaming up with Tencent and TiMi Studios for development, Pokémon Unite will feature teams of five players battling over different points of control across a map.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0meaWFXuTzc

Pokémon Unite will have players battling over five scoring areas. Players win by scoring more points than their opponents during the time limit. The more control points a team takes, the fewer healing spots their opponents have. In the last two minutes of a match, points are doubled for both teams.

Different Pokémon seem to have unique roles in the game. Snorlax seems to be fairly tanky, with a defensive move that blocks incoming attacks. Gengar, on the other hand, seems to be more of a jungler/assassin type character, popping out from the bushes to get attacks in. The Pokémon shown as playable in the video include: 

• Charmander/Charmeleon/Charizard
• Squirtle/Wartortle/Blastoise
• Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur
• Machop/Machoke/Machamp 
• Snorlax
• Clefable
• Gengar
• Lucario
• Talonflame

Other Pokémon like Bewear and Mankey are shown in the wild but do not appear to be playable. 

In the map, players can fight other wild Pokémon to gain experience and level up. As Pokémon level up, they gain new attacks and abilities, and you can strategically select their abilities for close- or long-range effectiveness, for instance. The video also details a new type of attack, called Unite Moves. These attacks are essentially ultimate attacks that damage multiple enemies at once. Also, type advantages have been confirmed as not being in the game.

Pokémon Unite will be available on both mobile devices and Nintendo Switch. There will be cross-play between mobile devices and the Switch. Unite will be “free to start” but does not detail what purchases will be available at launch. Stay tuned for more updates from the Pokémon Company, Tencent, and TiMi Studios,.