Pokémon Unite will be released for Nintendo Switch on July 21

Pokémon Unite, announced last year, will be released on July 21 for owners of the Nintendo Switch. The free-to-play Pokémon game is a 5vs5 moba created by Chinese developer TiMi Studios.

Pokémon Unite is described by the makers as the first strategic team battle game. The game revolves around 5v5 battles within the moba genre, or multiplayer online battle arena. Well-known games from that genre are League of Legends and Dota 2. Players who log in to the Switch before August 31 will receive Zeraora. This Pokémon especially excels in speed and can deliver electric shocks.

The game takes place on the island of Aeos, where the Unite Battle Committee organizes the so-called Unite Battle tournaments. Aeos energy allows Pokémon to evolve and become stronger during battle. This energy can be obtained by defeating enemy and wild Pokémon. In each battle, the Pokémon used starts at level 1, and as they battle, experience points become available that level them up. With this, new attacks will gradually become available, such as the Unite Move, a special powerful attack. The game will have several stadiums where the Unite Battles take place, each with its own rules.

Pokémon Unite will also be playable on mobile devices in September. Crossplay will be possible between players using their smartphone and players using their Nintendo Switch, although the developer only says that support for this is planned. It is still unknown whether that support will be there immediately when Pokémon Unite is also available for smartphones. Game data can also be transferred to another device, provided that you log in to a Nintendo account or a Pokémon Trainer Club account.