Pokémon Company announced on Tuesday that its upcoming multiplayer online battle arena offering, Pokémon Unite, is officially going into beta in March — but only for Android users.
Canadian residents over the age of 16 are eligible to participate in this Pokémon Unite beta test. Players must have an Android device and visit the Pokémon Unite page in the Google Play Store to sign up. Keep in mind that no in-game progress will carry over past the beta phase. Players also cannot stream or capture gameplay during the beta.
To run the game, players will need at least 3 GB of RAM and have Android Version 5.0 or later. The beta test and game will both be free to play.
Attention, Canadian Trainers!
Want to be one of the first to play #PokemonUNITE? 👀 A beta test for Android users launches next month!
Find out how you can participate here ➡️ https://t.co/UH8lqvSiTy pic.twitter.com/XiVHE9LLD3
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) February 16, 2021
What is Pokémon Unite?
Pokémon Unite is a five versus five PVP game, similar to League of Legends. Players work together with others to level up, evolve, catch wild Pokémon on the map and battle opposing Pokémon to earn points and win the game.
The game takes place on a map with lanes and a “jungle,” similar to League of Legends. Pokémon fight using their moves like they do in traditional Pokémon battles, but instead of one-on-one or two-on-two turn-based battles, these battles take place in real-time with multiple different players.
As Pokémon gain experience through battling and completing objectives, they level up and evolve, assuming they have an evolution. Knocking opposing players’ Pokémon out and completing objectives earns points towards victory.
While there are plenty of Pokémon spin-off games out there, this is the franchise’s first attempt at a competitive online multiplayer game. Pokémon Unite is developed by TiMi studios and published by both Tencent (which owns Riot Games) and the Pokémon Company International. The game will be playable on Android, iOS and the Nintendo Switch. There is still no official release date.
