Pokémon is getting its first team battler.
Game Freak announced during its Pokémon Presents event Wednesday that the developer is entering the multiplayer online battle arena genre with Pokémon UNITE, a 5-on-5 game that will share the MOBA space with powerhouses like League of Legends and Dota 2 -- with a Pokémon twist. A release date has yet to be revealed.
The Pokémon Company is joining forces with Chinese giant Tencent (which also own 93% of League of Legends developer Riot Games) to create the title, which will be available on the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices and will be free to play.
You may think you know Pokémon...but you've never seen a battle like this!
— Pokémon (@Pokemon) June 24, 2020
Experience exciting 5-on-5 matches in #PokemonUNITE, a new strategic team battle game for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices!
Here's your first look at some gameplay footage 👀 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/mgJLjZYKC7
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According to a post about the game on the official Pokémon website, players will "cooperate with teammates to catch wild Pokémon, level up and evolve their own Pokémon, and defeat opponents' Pokémon while trying to earn more points than the opposing team within the allotted time."
A trailer for the game showcased franchise favorites like Charizard, Pikachu, Blastoise, Venusaur and Lucario alongside other monsters.
This will be the first team battle title in the franchise's 24-year history. This also follows a busy month of announcements for Pokémon, including Mega Evolution coming to Pokémon Go; a mobile toothbrushing app for Apple/Android called Pokémon Smile; a new puzzle game that released Wednesday called Pokémon Cafe Mix; as well as a new version of a N64 favorite, Pokémon Snap, being developed for the Nintendo Switch.