The Pokémon Company’s five active mobile games all have updates on the way, announced on Pokémon’s 28th anniversary – also known as Pokémon Day – on February 27.
From Go to Unite to Café ReMix, Pokémon’s mobile expansion has seen the franchise experiment with a whole range of genres, and while some have been more successful than others, a total of five mobile games are still being supported with new updates.
Each one has an update out now or on the way for fans of the franchise, in line with celebrating 28 years since Red and Green first released on the Game Boy.
Plenty to play
Pokémon’s biggest mobile success and one of the most lucrative mobile games of all time, Pokémon Go, has an upcoming tie-in to Pokémon Horizons coming next week. The anime series launches on Netflix in the US on March 7 with new protagonists, taking a new direction away from Ash Ketchum; and to promote this, starting March 5 Pokémon Go will feature a new Pikachu wearing Cap’s hat from the anime, with Volt Tackle providing it a unique edge in battle.
The stars of Horizons, Liko and Roy, will appear in photos when using Go’s AR features too, in a clear move to pique Go fans’ curiosity around the new show.
MOBA game Pokémon Unite, meanwhile, is introducing new creatures that originated in Nintendo Switch games Scarlet and Violet, namely Ceruledge and the Violet mascot Miraidon. Something of a minigame within the MOBA, Miraidon’s Sandwich Challenge is underway as a means of unlocking the Violet mascot for free, with players earning dice through log-in bonuses and other means that can be rolled to advance across a board. As players advance, they will ultimately be able to unlock Miraidon.
Commemorating Pokémon Day, a Prize Machine Event is also in progress giving players a chance at free outfits for their Pokémon. This feature is typically exclusive to players willing to spend real money.
Miraidon is also coming to Pokémon Café ReMix, a casual and chaotic puzzle game based around linking Pokémon of the same species to complete objectives and create food and drinks for customers. Scarlet’s mascot Koraidon is joining too, recruitable to the café’s staff, and Gimmighoul Coins will be made available by completing certain puzzles. Gimmighoul is a Pokémon that was first revealed in Go.
The franchise’s latest mobile game Pokémon Sleep is getting an update too after a successful launch in 2023, four years on from its initial announcement. There are log-in bonuses Poké Biscuits and Diamonds happening now and the legendary Raikou is set to debut in March, followed by Entei and Suicune. The trio were first introduced in Game Boy Color titles Gold and Silver.
An anniversary of its own
Last but certainly not least, Pokémon Masters EX is celebrating its 4.5 year anniversary as the franchise as a whole celebrates its 28th. As the second most successful mobile game in the series after Go, Masters has generated over $300 million in these 4.5 years and is celebrating its latest milestone with the release of Champion Silver and Tyranitar, fan-favourites who also first appeared in Gold and Silver.
The pair are releasing on February 29 for a limited time via the gacha, Master’s main revenue source, and will run alongside the limited releases of Geeta and Glimmora as well as Sygna Suit Gladion and Magearna.
The limited availability of these characters in a chance-based gacha system, each vying for the same premium resources from players, is sure to bring Masters continued success during the celebratory period.
Pokémon Day also saw the reveal of yet another mobile game that will bring the series’ active total to six. Launching sometime in 2024, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is looking to digitise the popular card game with collecting, trading and battling included.