The Pokémon Company has confirmed that Pokémon UNITE will end service on 23 March 2027 at 00:00 UTC. The game’s final official competition, the Aeos Crown 2027 finals in Tokyo, is scheduled to conclude on 21 March, two days before the shutdown.
The closure applies to the Nintendo Switch and mobile versions of the team battle game, which launched on Switch on 21 July 2021. Sales of Aeos gems, new UNITE Club memberships and automatic membership renewals have already stopped, according to the end-of-service notice.
The Tokyo tournament will proceed as planned. Registration for its regional online qualifiers opened alongside the shutdown announcement, with the first qualifiers beginning on 5 December. Teams from Europe, North America, Brazil, Latin America and Oceania can register until that date.
Up to 32 teams will compete in the offline finals. North America and Japan have four invitation places each, while Europe, Brazil and Latin America North have three apiece. Japan’s places include one for ZETA DIVISION, the WCS 2026 champions. Two Last Chance Qualifiers, for APAC West and APAC East, will award one additional place each.
The finals take place on 20 and 21 March. On the first day, teams will be divided into eight round-robin groups, with the top two from each advancing to a single-elimination bracket on day two. All matches will use the “All-Star Draft” ruleset. Organisers say there will be no general admission seating; matches will instead be streamed live on official channels in several languages.
A farewell update is planned for 12 November. It will introduce special Unite coins, earned through login bonuses and match wins, that players can exchange for items released earlier in the game’s life, including Unite licences and Holowear.
The update will also add a library mode, allowing some records and cosmetics to remain viewable after the servers close. Players must complete a one-time data download before 23 March to use the feature. The publisher cautions that library data generally cannot be transferred between devices.
Sources: Esports Insider.