Pokémon Unite comes out on July 21 for Nintendo Switch 21

The Pokémon Unite announced last year will be released for Nintendo Switch owners on July 21. 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 31st will have access to Zeraora. This Pokémon especially excels at 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. With each battle, the Pokémon used starts at level 1, and experience points become available as they level up as they battle. With this, new attacks 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 smartphones and players using their Nintendo Switch, although the developer only says support for this is planned. It is still unknown whether that support will be there immediately when Pokémon Unite is also out for smartphones. Game data can also be transferred to another device, provided you log in to a Nintendo account or a Pokémon Trainer Club account.