The Pokemon Company is one of the best video game companies out there. It’s technically both a developer and a publisher, even though it has multiple development teams within its umbrella, and it’s got a publishing relationship with Nintendo that’s been going on for decades. Regardless of how you view them, the company knows how to make games and market them so that they can be the biggest hits possible, even if it’s only in the mobile space. For proof of this, you need only look at Pokemon TCG Pocket, which launched in October of last year and almost instantly became one of the team’s best hits.
It raked in millions of dollars a day during its first month, and the player base continued to grow. Things have gotten quite competitive within its ranks, and that has led some to wonder if The Pokemon Company would add the mobile title to its events like Pokemon World, where numerous games within the franchise are set up for players to show their skills and see who’s the best.
In a chat with VGC, the site talked with the head of global esports for The Pokemon Company, Chris Brown. He noted that the mobile card game won’t join the other titles in the franchise at Pokemon World or beyond just yet:
“We’re always looking at different titles. Pokemon Sleep is out there too. But at this time there are no plans for Pokemon Pocket to join, but we’re always looking at things.”
There might be multiple reasons why Pokemon TCG Pocket isn’t getting “the tap” as of yet. One of the biggest ones that players would easily point out is that the game itself still doesn’t have the widest set of cards available. Yes, The Pokemon Company has been adding new cards at a good clip, but it’s not as expansive a size as the actual TCG games. As such, players are finding themselves going up against “the same kinds of decks” in the game’s online matches. When all you need are certain cards and strategies that just about anyone can get if they pull the right cards, that’s not competitive; that’s a basic way to always win, which isn’t fun.
The other reason is that the mobile title is still a bit broken, as it had a large trading controversy earlier this month that was only partially fixed in the minds of some gamers. So, until some of these issues are truly remedied, we likely won’t see this title on the global competition stage.
