Pokémon Champions will be free-to-start, used as official VGC software
Pokémon Champions will be free-to-start, used as official VGC software
by Amiibofan101
31 Comments
Legitimate_Most6651
“free to start” is nice, at least they’re *trying* to use less predatory language.
DabMagician
Don’t hate me but the language has me concerned that this will pivot VGC into being more pay-to-win.
rocketkirby
I wish they could separate the competitive online scene from the mainline game and Pokémon champions, and not just choose the later to be the official one
eternal_edenium
Interesting way of saying , we will wait that players get addicted to it before introducing predatory practices and milk everyone along the line.
The irony would be that vgc players try and keep playing in the mainline pokemon games, that would be really ironic.
ExPandaa
On another note, that omni ring item confirms z moves are returning at some point, and it also looks like it has the dynamax and terastal icons, so basically we’ll be getting all of the gimmick mechanics at the same time
The only thing I could sort of be ok with is ”generation packs” so whenever a new mainline gen releases they sell access to that gen’s rental Pokémon as some kind of dlc.
That would still leave it completely free for those who buy the mainline games
MrWaluigi
If I’m going to be honest, I expected something like this. Assuming that this is going to be The Game that will be used in official tournaments for the foreseeable future, they’re going to need a steady revenue to maintain servers and such. Because they need to update it over time when new battle mechanics will be introduced.
Plus, while I can’t speak for all, I don’t think I can justify spending a lot of money on a game like this, even as a one time purchase only. I’m not going to get a lot of value from it, even if they market and profit from it being priced as 40$.
MikaelDerp
It’ll probably be cosmetics for trainers/pokemon/battlefield thrown into a “store” plus a battlepass. TCG/Pocket/Unite all have this so if the game is F2P them monetizing through cosmetics is standard.
Uyq62048
“Free-To-Start” So the future of Pokemon lies in predatory f2p mobage slop.
Bulky-Complaint6994
Probably a few limitations that way people that only use the mainline titles for VGC purposes are still required to buy the new games and dlcs. But for a casual you can still have a good selection of rental Pokemon. Already been confirmed that the new in game currency to adjust your stats can’t be bought with real money. So, that’s my thoughts.
Rath_Brained
Gamefreak be like: Competitive battling < Comepetitive buying.
Imagine them selling Shiny pokemon as your rent to own pokemon, then add a chosen Mark for 10 bucks more.
I would be livid.
Nick_BOI
I just want to battle with the whole Pokedex and movedex again like we used to before Gen 8.
More than anything else, Dexit had basically killed my passion for the franchise.
If this ever gets to that point I will gladly get back into the series and whale this game.
Flonkerton_Scranton
Predatory microtransactional game.
Shiny_Mew76
And this is why I’ll be sticking to Showdown!
The_Sturk
If we want to be super technical, competitive battling as a whole is Pay-to-Win (applications such as Showdown not withstanding). To legally obtain certain Pokemon (especially Mythical and some legendaries) you need to multiple games and transfer them across software such as Pokemon Home to get them to the current gen.
Sharpsider
I hate pokemon’s economic strategy. I know GF is not Nintendo bur for god’s sake, couldn’t just they negotiate to be included into nintendo online?
I just can’t be bothered to pay for Pokemon Home and now, for Pokemon Champions.
Please, release my pokemon from captivity. It feels like a ransom!
gf_for_the_weekend
i’m curious as to how successful this will be, i was never interested in the competitive part of pokemon and while i think im in the minority i feel like this will rly only interest people already into competitive and not rly bring any new people in
midnightspecials
Pretty much expected albeit quite a fast adoption from them. Champions was meant to separate multiplayer from singleplayer so you don’t need to buy the main series games just to get into competitive
HagueHarry
Oh boy, wonder if that’s gonna mean it’s Switch 2 only in the Netherlands.
Pessimistic_Gemini
Well THIS was about as predictable a announcement as you could get when it comes to this particular game. Considering the fact that it’s launching on both Switch and Mobile, it would be crazy for it NOT to be a Free To Start game.
bluedragjet
What is most likely how they will make their money:
-Pokémon home subscriptions
-Cosmetic
Dinowere
I’m assuming they will paywall the legendaries of the new games, atleast for a while, so that there is an incentive to purchase the game, or spend money on them. I’d be willing to take any monetization system as long as it allows me to use my own Pokemon through Home, so that those who already spend money on the Pokemon games don’t have to double pay.
SandBoxFreakPS
I wonder if this will be another Pokémon game that will be unavailable in my country. Both Pokémon Masters and Pokémon Unite are unavailable in my country. And since they say that this new game will be free to start, I have a feeling that it won’t take long until this game will also be banned in my country.
Edit: I forgot about Pokémon TCG Pocket which is also unavailable in my country. But that game isn’t unavailable because of my country, the developers just decided not to release the game even though the game was conforming to the new gambling laws.
Seacliff217
Given this is to be the future of the competitive scenes and is confirmed to be “Free to Start/Play”, I hope monetization starts and ends with just cosmetics.
PaperClipSlip
I’m getting a feeling that training IV/EVs and such will be filled with microtransactions. I don’t understand why these games are so hell-bend on making training your pokemon the biggest hassle ever.
LunarWingCloud
It was already shown that you acquire the points used to allocate stats and rent Pokémon by playing the game, I don’t know why this source is wording things in such a way.
LexyKitsu
“freemium”.
Can’t wait for the abysmal “free” experience.
Dreyfus2006
Should just be a one-and-done payment with no further microtransactions. They are “competing” with Pokémon Showdown, so it needs to be better and not an enshittified F2P model.
I’d follow the Pokémon Stadium route where you buy the game but then you can import Pokémon however you’d like. And then, vaguely like Stadium 2, future generations can be DLC if they want to do that (it would be a downgrade from Smogon but otherwise everybody would get new Pokémon for free).
Mdreezy_
The free portion is probably a limited number of rental teams and you will need to buy or own the games to use your own Pokemon teams with Pokemon home.
I hope its sensible. Pokemon is one of the most profitable and recognizable brands ever. If this is balanced well it could be a really solid way to bring back old fans and create new ones. Keep the actual pokemon/collection out of the cash loop. Same with held items. IF they want P2P keep it cosmetic and keep it out of pokemon home support.
31 Comments
“free to start” is nice, at least they’re *trying* to use less predatory language.
Don’t hate me but the language has me concerned that this will pivot VGC into being more pay-to-win.
I wish they could separate the competitive online scene from the mainline game and Pokémon champions, and not just choose the later to be the official one
Interesting way of saying , we will wait that players get addicted to it before introducing predatory practices and milk everyone along the line.
The irony would be that vgc players try and keep playing in the mainline pokemon games, that would be really ironic.
On another note, that omni ring item confirms z moves are returning at some point, and it also looks like it has the dynamax and terastal icons, so basically we’ll be getting all of the gimmick mechanics at the same time
The only thing I could sort of be ok with is ”generation packs” so whenever a new mainline gen releases they sell access to that gen’s rental Pokémon as some kind of dlc.
That would still leave it completely free for those who buy the mainline games
If I’m going to be honest, I expected something like this. Assuming that this is going to be The Game that will be used in official tournaments for the foreseeable future, they’re going to need a steady revenue to maintain servers and such. Because they need to update it over time when new battle mechanics will be introduced.
Plus, while I can’t speak for all, I don’t think I can justify spending a lot of money on a game like this, even as a one time purchase only. I’m not going to get a lot of value from it, even if they market and profit from it being priced as 40$.
It’ll probably be cosmetics for trainers/pokemon/battlefield thrown into a “store” plus a battlepass. TCG/Pocket/Unite all have this so if the game is F2P them monetizing through cosmetics is standard.
“Free-To-Start” So the future of Pokemon lies in predatory f2p mobage slop.
Probably a few limitations that way people that only use the mainline titles for VGC purposes are still required to buy the new games and dlcs. But for a casual you can still have a good selection of rental Pokemon. Already been confirmed that the new in game currency to adjust your stats can’t be bought with real money. So, that’s my thoughts.
Gamefreak be like: Competitive battling < Comepetitive buying.
Imagine them selling Shiny pokemon as your rent to own pokemon, then add a chosen Mark for 10 bucks more.
I would be livid.
I just want to battle with the whole Pokedex and movedex again like we used to before Gen 8.
More than anything else, Dexit had basically killed my passion for the franchise.
If this ever gets to that point I will gladly get back into the series and whale this game.
Predatory microtransactional game.
And this is why I’ll be sticking to Showdown!
If we want to be super technical, competitive battling as a whole is Pay-to-Win (applications such as Showdown not withstanding). To legally obtain certain Pokemon (especially Mythical and some legendaries) you need to multiple games and transfer them across software such as Pokemon Home to get them to the current gen.
I hate pokemon’s economic strategy. I know GF is not Nintendo bur for god’s sake, couldn’t just they negotiate to be included into nintendo online?
I just can’t be bothered to pay for Pokemon Home and now, for Pokemon Champions.
Please, release my pokemon from captivity. It feels like a ransom!
i’m curious as to how successful this will be, i was never interested in the competitive part of pokemon and while i think im in the minority i feel like this will rly only interest people already into competitive and not rly bring any new people in
Pretty much expected albeit quite a fast adoption from them. Champions was meant to separate multiplayer from singleplayer so you don’t need to buy the main series games just to get into competitive
Oh boy, wonder if that’s gonna mean it’s Switch 2 only in the Netherlands.
Well THIS was about as predictable a announcement as you could get when it comes to this particular game. Considering the fact that it’s launching on both Switch and Mobile, it would be crazy for it NOT to be a Free To Start game.
What is most likely how they will make their money:
-Pokémon home subscriptions
-Cosmetic
I’m assuming they will paywall the legendaries of the new games, atleast for a while, so that there is an incentive to purchase the game, or spend money on them. I’d be willing to take any monetization system as long as it allows me to use my own Pokemon through Home, so that those who already spend money on the Pokemon games don’t have to double pay.
I wonder if this will be another Pokémon game that will be unavailable in my country. Both Pokémon Masters and Pokémon Unite are unavailable in my country. And since they say that this new game will be free to start, I have a feeling that it won’t take long until this game will also be banned in my country.
Edit: I forgot about Pokémon TCG Pocket which is also unavailable in my country. But that game isn’t unavailable because of my country, the developers just decided not to release the game even though the game was conforming to the new gambling laws.
Given this is to be the future of the competitive scenes and is confirmed to be “Free to Start/Play”, I hope monetization starts and ends with just cosmetics.
I’m getting a feeling that training IV/EVs and such will be filled with microtransactions. I don’t understand why these games are so hell-bend on making training your pokemon the biggest hassle ever.
It was already shown that you acquire the points used to allocate stats and rent Pokémon by playing the game, I don’t know why this source is wording things in such a way.
“freemium”.
Can’t wait for the abysmal “free” experience.
Should just be a one-and-done payment with no further microtransactions. They are “competing” with Pokémon Showdown, so it needs to be better and not an enshittified F2P model.
I’d follow the Pokémon Stadium route where you buy the game but then you can import Pokémon however you’d like. And then, vaguely like Stadium 2, future generations can be DLC if they want to do that (it would be a downgrade from Smogon but otherwise everybody would get new Pokémon for free).
The free portion is probably a limited number of rental teams and you will need to buy or own the games to use your own Pokemon teams with Pokemon home.
for everyone worried about pay to win vgc
https://preview.redd.it/1h1oj8pxssjf1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dedd1bef84defe1aab73994e8dff0fb587e65ac2
I hope its sensible. Pokemon is one of the most profitable and recognizable brands ever. If this is balanced well it could be a really solid way to bring back old fans and create new ones. Keep the actual pokemon/collection out of the cash loop. Same with held items. IF they want P2P keep it cosmetic and keep it out of pokemon home support.
What is this game even about?