With the arrival of league of legends in 2009, the market for MOBA (also known as arena) has materialized to become one of the most flourishing, with the title branded Riot Games which continues to monopolize the first position of the charts. Over the years, with the advent of mobile devices, the genre has begun to embrace the vision of portability under a new perspective, according to which the game mechanics could be simplified as much as possible in order to exponentially increase the possible active players. After all, more or less everyone has a phone that can easily run thousands of video games that can be enjoyed at any place or time. The new announcement of the The Pokémon Company it concerns a title of this type, we are talking about a MOBA that will make its debut on smartphones and on Nintendo Switch in cross-play, which takes the name of Pokémon Unite.
However, the well-known company is not able to take care of the project alone, as the development was partly entrusted to TiMi, a subsidiary developer of Tencent (company that owns Riot Games). After the trailer shown, many avid MOBA players currently in vogue have certainly received an interesting flea in their ear, as an arena where bringing all the pokémon onto the field has always been the secret dream of several fans. So let's see how Pokémon Unite can impact the market, trying to understand if it will become a niche title or if it will be able to shake the balance.
No more claims, pokémon are enough
How could we have already witnessed the advent of Pokémon Go, the tender Japanese monsters are able to defeat any competitor with their mere presence, making games that still have several defects successful. Sobering as the Pokémon-themed AR title developed by Niantic he managed to defeat Ingress, a similar but decidedly more complete work, even by the same software house. Starting from this assumption, we can already be sure of Pokémon Unite's success, which may obviously be surprising or only partial, but which in all likelihood will not turn out to be a total hole in the water.
It is impossible not to consider the game's target audience, phones and Nintendo Switch, two extremely limited platforms compared to the PC world, where MOBAs have become real competitive and extremely popular sports. Obviously, the new work published by Nintendo aims to entertain a large number of the public not accustomed to the world of video games, through decidedly simpler and more intuitive mechanics, which does not, however, be difficult to master at high levels. As we could see during the presentation video, all the commands will be given through special buttons evident on the screens of the phones, while it is likely that on the Nintendo Switch the touch functions will be replaced by the possibilities of the two Joy-Con. It still seems that the platforms will be balanced in their own way, given the confirmation of cross-play.
A thousand competitors against Pokémon Unite
Given this premise, it is clear that Pokémon Unite will not aim at the public of more avid and competitive players, as for those who want to have fun in moments of hole away from home, or perhaps want to undertake a quick occasional game. Regarding this field, the work, however, finds a fair amount of competition waiting for you. On Nintendo Switch the problem will not be particularly relevant, and it is clear that the game will be excellent for many lovers of the Nintendo ecosystem - and of the pokémon - which are projected in this genre not present on the Nintendo eShop. However, on the mobile market front, several more famous titles could give the work a hard time. If that is true an initial boom will be guaranteed by the mere presence of the monstersHowever, the fact remains that in the long term it will be quality that will make production more or less successful; after all not many would approach a boring and ugly work to play only for its protagonists. At this point, Important names like Mobile Legends and Brawl Stars come forward, but also the imminent Wild rift Riot Games will certainly have its impact on the mobile market. Will Pokémon Unite be able to compete in the long run with all these appearances? Needless to say, we will find out only after having been able to try it firsthand.
An important detail that could however make the experience less successful than expected is its cost, initially completely free, but according to what is stated only free to start, with therefore a consequent obligation of one or more subsequent microtransactions. It is unclear whether it will be necessary to purchase the actual license of the game after a certain amount of time, or if some of the 100 pokémon announced they can only be obtained through real currency. We will also see how the competitive scene of the title will establish itself, if it is born in some way over the months. We therefore await further details, such as a more precise launch window or new gameplay elements.
