The Future of Pokemon Unite Competitive

Pokemon Unite has now been available to play for about four months. During this time, the game has accumulated over 9 million players. With the game seeing constant growth, there have been many questions on if Pokemon Unite competitive has a future. Here is why it has a chance to flourish as well as problems it is currently facing.

MOBA Advantage

Simply due to the fact that Pokemon Unite is a MOBA, is naturally draws competitive interest. Games such as League of Legends and DOTA have created a path for Unite to flourish. With over 20 MOBAS being created in the last 10 years, consumers can’t seem to get enough of this game genre. There is natural interest drawn towards the game thanks to the appeal of this game genre.

The Power of Pokemon

Pokemon is one of the world’s most beloved franchises. The series has gone 25 years strong and it’s not slowing down. Even those who don’t know much about MOBAs may feel inclined to give this game thanks to the franchise. Pokemon Unite has an advantage over other MOBAS thanks to the large fan base they possess.

While Pokemon Unite is still small in the world of MOBAs, it can still be so much more. There is not much reason to worry about the sustainability of the game. Since it is supported by the Pokemon Company, the game practically has limitless resources.

The Pokemon Company will show a willingness to keep the game healthy. The game may be free-to-play, but microtransactions to buy skins and characters provide a profit. Sales on Iphone and Android alone have reached over $2 million. There is a profit to be made and the Pokemon Company can more than afford to keep this game alive.

Potential Esports Scene

Another strength Pokemon Unite could still capitalize on is forming a dedicated esports scene. Some players and fans have already begun making their own tournaments. YouTuber Daniel “aDrive” Clap already made his own community league called the Shiny League. This league has accumulated over 2600 entrants since its inception in October 2021.

aDrive may be a popular creator, but not everyone around the world watches him. So the fact that thousands of players have shown interest in this one league is a promising sign. Clearly, Pokemon Unite competitive is something that players want.

If the Pokemon Company recognizes this interest, they should feel more inclined to develop an official esports scene. After all, they already have a dedicated competitive scene for VGC competitive battling as well as the TCG.

Again, the Pokemon Company has the resources. They certainly could make an official competitive system if they wished to. So long as more players continue to join community-hosted events, there is reason to stay hopeful.

Online Ranked Stacking Problem

While Pokemon Unite is enjoyable in its simplest form, it can be frustrating for solo players. A common complaint is stacking. Players can stack with an entire team. However, not everyone has that luxury. Some players can only solo queue.

But even so, they still get matched up against entire teams which results in unbalanced matches. It is difficult to communicate through a game chat feature with other players in Unite. Solo players are put at a severe disadvantage which can make grinding feel like a waste of time. Pokemon Unite risks losing general interest in the game if the queue system doesn’t see changes.

Lack of MMR Reset

Something Pokemon Unite desperately needs is a total rank rest. At the start of season two, ranks were reset but not from scratch. Most players saw a one-class decrease, but that doesn’t help all that much. It is impossible to weed out boosted players without a total reset. It results in frustrating situations for players who get matched up with teammates who are below their skill level.

Exclusivity Issue

While there is likely not much that can be done since Pokemon falls under Nintendo, Unite being unavailable on PC hurts its ability to grow. The Nintendo Switch is a popular console. It has sold over 80 million units. However, this number is tiny in comparison to the number of PC gamers across the world.

Close to 50% of the world’s gamers are on PC. It’s a huge market that Pokemon Unite missed out on. The player base could easily skyrocket if Pokemon Unite wasn’t strictly bound to Nintendo Switch and mobile devices. Unless Pokemon Unite suddenly expands to other platforms, the game will miss out on an opportunity to grow.

Conclusion

Pokemon Unite has a chance to be special. The Pokemon Company must capitalize on its strengths to make Pokemon Unite competitive great. At the same time, some changes have to made to ease the frustrations of the player base.

Pokemon Unite competitive could have a bright future with huge popularity. There is great potential for this game to become a competitive gaming staple. It is simply a matter of delivering correctly now.

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