The Pokemon Trading Card Game is one of the biggest and most well-known collectible card games in the world. The card game has been around almost as long as the massively popular video game franchise it is based on and is likewise celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2021. Earlier this month, Nintendo and The Pokemon Company officially announced a new official Pokemon TCG app titled Pokemon Trading Card Game Live and, recently, the game received an official rating from the ESRB.
The upcoming Pokemon app is not the first of its kind as The Pokemon Company has sought many different ways to bring the Trading Card Game into a digital format. At the beginning of the Pokemon craze, Nintendo released Pokemon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy as one of the first ways to experience the game digitally (with the game later receiving a Japan-exclusive sequel). In recent years, the Pokemon TCG has received online support through the Pokemon TCG Online app and now, a new title is looking to move into the Pokemon space.
Pokemon Trading Card Game Live was only revealed very recently with the official reveal trailer just under ten days ago and, now, the game has its official ESRB rating. Falling in line with many of Pokemon's other titles, Pokemon Trading Card Game Live received an E for Everyone rating from the ESRB with no special descriptors. Pokemon has always marketed itself as a family and kid-friendly franchise, so a Pokemon title receiving an E rating should come as little surprise to both casual and long-time fans.
The Pokemon TCG has been a hot topic over much of the past year as the trading card game market has boomed and collectors have flooded into the children's card game. Classic Pokemon TCG booster boxes have been selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars and many popular streamers and content creators have jumped in on the Pokemon collecting craze. The modern game has seen no shortage of activity either, debuting new card types like the multi-card "V-Union" cards debuting earlier this year.
Pokemon's 25th anniversary has been an active time for all aspects of the massive multimedia franchise. Aside from the boom of the TCG collector's market, a major 'Pokemon Presents' livestream in February announced not one but two major Pokemon games coming between then and 2022. Pokemon Go is preparing for its first live in-person event in over a year with next month's Safari Zone in Liverpool, England. It's an exciting time to be a Pokemon fan and The Pokemon Company has certainly delivered plenty for fans to be excited about now and into the future.
Pokemon Trading Card Game Live is currently in development for PC, Mac, and mobile devices with no confirmed release date.