BODY:
On October 27, The Pokémon Company announced that Pokémon UNITE will end service at 9:00 a.m. Japan time on March 23, 2027, for both the Nintendo Switch version and the iOS and Android versions.
The free-to-play five-on-five arena battle game (a MOBA-style game) launched on Nintendo Switch on July 21, 2021 and on iOS and Android on September 22 that year, reached China in November 2024, and passed 200 million downloads worldwide in July 2025, according to its producer letter.
From 2:00 p.m. on October 27, sales of Gems and new sign-ups and auto-renewals for the UNITE Membership stopped. Special events and updates for the shutdown are planned from November 12. The tournament Pokémon UNITE Aeos Crown 2027 Tokyo remains scheduled, with qualifiers held in sequence from December 5. After the shutdown, a "Library" for viewing battle records, earned licenses and Holowear is being prepared, and refunds for unused paid Gems are mentioned; details are on the official site. The game's service had already ended in the Netherlands and Belgium in November 2025; this time the global version, including Japan, is ending.
The insider take
The announcements give no reason for the shutdown, so it is better not to guess. What is clear is the schedule and that the Library will let players keep their records.
Originally reported by AUTOMATON (Japanese).