Nintendo released a new trailer confirming the Switch release date earlier today after outlining a July Switch launch last month. The 5v5 arena battler was first revealed just over a year ago, and it’s currently scheduled to come to mobile devices sometime in September. Pokemon Unite will support cross-play between Switch and mobile once both versions are available.

Pokemon Unite is an honest-to-god, full-fat Pokemon MOBA which still feels like a project ripped from another timeline somehow wilder than ours. Teams of five square off in a symmetrical arena split into lanes, and compete to score points by defeating wild Pokemon and then depositing energy in enemy goals dotted along the lanes. The more Pokemon you defeat, the stronger your Pokemon gets, unlocking new skills and even evolving throughout the course of a match. At higher levels, you’ll unlock pinnacle ultimate abilities called Unite Moves, which aren’t seen in other Pokemon games. 

Pokemon Unite seems to have put some small spins on the usual formula of defeating minor enemies and taking towers, but it preserves the general flow of MOBAs. Combined with the characters and cuteness of Pokemon, that in and of itself is still kind of bonkers to look at. 

This being a MOBA, there’s also a pretty big focus on team fights. The map’s lanes naturally create choke points, so expect to spend a good chunk of each match squaring off with the enemy team. Again, there’s just something bewildering about seeing the likes of Gengar stare down Venusaur as they fight over top lane in ranked while friggin’ Pikachu sneaks in for a gank.

Pokemon Unite is the result of a partnership between Nintendo and Tencent developer Timi, best known for Call of Duty: Mobile. In its reveal, The Pokemon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara described it as a game “that anyone can pick up and enjoy immediately.” 

If you log into Pokemon Unite by August 31, you’ll unlock Zeraora as a free playable character – one of 20 revealed so far, which are split between attackers, speedsters, all-rounders, defenders, and supporters. 

Pokemon Unite will be free to play and supported through in-game purchases, with coins and tickets earned for free and gems purchased for real money. You can use gems to upgrade the battle pass for additional rewards, for example. 

Speaking of new and ambitious Pokemon games: the Pokemon Legends: Arceus release date has been set for January 2022.

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Total War: Arena is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena, series developer Creative Assembly revealed at GDC. The streamlined strategy game will pit two teams of ten players against one another in historically inspired battles.

Each player will directly control three units and cooperate with their fellow commanders to overwhelm the opposition, according to the GDC presentation (via Control Magazine).

UPDATE: We spoke with lead designer James Russell and multiplayer designer Gabor Beress about what’s new and what’s historical in the upcoming spinoff.

Total War: Arena scales the series’ semi-historical battles to the somewhat-more-massively-multiplayer stage. Russell and Buress said the changes, like three units to a player, new Dota-like abilities including skill shots, and persistent upgrades make the game tight and focused but true to the franchise.

“Arena absolutely has to be as active and skill based when you’re controlling those three units as core Total War when you’re controlling 20,” Russell said.

When each player has three units, he or she can still benefit from thoughtful unit composition and flanking–and the battlefield doesn’t turn into a featureless slurry of friendly and hostile soldiers. Russell said Arena will launch with a few maps tightly designed to make sure matches never become “a great big mosh group in the middle.”

Every match will contribute to units’ persistent progression. Commanders like Scipio Africanus or Alexander the Great will level up and gain unique abilities, and their soldiers can be traded out or equipped with new items. This is where Total War: Arena will make its money.

“Fundamentally the vast majority of content is available to players for free as long as you earn it,” Russell said. The name of Creative Assembly’s money-making game is acceleration: if you want Alexander and his well-oiled men to level faster, you can pay up. Little will be off-limits if you want to pay in time instead of cash.

If you want to get in on some creative multiplayer anachronisms early, Total War: Arena’s website is live with early beta details.

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