‘Pokémon Masters’ launches this summer with real-time 3v3 battles

The Pokémon Company officially announced a handful of new games earlier this year, including one, Pokémon Masters, for smartphones. And now we know a bit more about the title, which is a slight departure for the series in terms of gameplay and focus.

The Pokémon Company officially released a trailer today for the upcoming Pokémon Masters, and included a few key pieces of information along with it. We’ve known since the mobile game’s announcement that it would launch sometime later this year, and now we know it will arrive this summer. No exact date just yet, but at least the wait isn’t too much longer.

In addition to that, but this game isn’t about collecting digital pocket monsters. Instead, it’s about growing friendships with other trainers and the Pokémon used for the battle games. The company’s president, Tsunekazu Ishihara said during the initial presentation that this game is meant to “create a gameplay experience where you could befriend not only pokémon, but trainers”. And that appears to be the end result.

Pokémon Masters will see real-time 3v3 battles take place, where the player is able to enlist the help of many famous trainers from the game’s landmark history. Each trainer is paired with a single pokémon, which the game calls “Sync Pairs”. Players will still be collecting badges as they play, and the battles themselves will be in real-time rather than the traditional turn-based style.

Here’s the game’s trailer:

This looks like a nice way to rejuvenate the game overall, but it will be interesting to see if it resonates with players. When it arrives, it will be available for iOS and Android devices.

Are you looking forward to this new game?