Last week, The Pokemon Company hosted a special Pokemon presentation where it revealed a number of upcoming projects, including the popular New Pokemon Snap. It then concluded the presentation with a tease that it was going to reveal a "big project" the following week, on June 24. That big project turned out to be a Pokemon MOBA from Tencent called Pokemon Unite, and while some fans may be excited for a Pokemon take on League of Legends, it seems the vast majority are not happy with the announcement.
At the time of this writing, the Pokemon Unite reveal trailer has over 21,000 dislikes versus just over 6,000 likes, but both numbers are increasing with each refresh. The comment section reveals that there are a number of reasons why fans aren't happy about the announcement. It partly has to do with the involvement of Tencent, which is a company that many fans dislike. It also seems many feel misled by The Pokemon Company as they don't categorize a mobile MOBA game as a "big project," and it seems many others are upset because they expected the announcement to be something different.
Two of the most popular theories about what The Pokemon Company's big announcement would be were Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes or Pokemon Let's Go Johto. Unfortunately, neither of those projects were announced at the Pokemon Presents event, and so it's no surprise that fans going in expecting to see them have come away disappointed.
A number of fans have pointed out that the backlash to Pokemon Unite is due to the hype that The Pokemon Company built up for it. By saving it as a special reveal and characterizing it as a "big project," it set certain expectations that Pokemon Unite could never have lived up to. It's quite possible that Pokemon Unite will be a fun, worthwhile gaming experience when it launches, but the way it was presented has definitely left fans with a sour taste in their mouths.
It seems likely that Pokemon Unite would have been much better-received had it just been revealed alongside last week's announcements. While the Pokemon Unite trailer may still have failed to generate much excitement, the reveal of New Pokemon Snap would have still left fans of the Pokemon franchise satisfied.
Of course, the reveal of Pokemon Unite doesn't mean that Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes or Let's Go Johto games won't come at some point. In fact, they are two projects that are virtually guaranteed to happen eventually. But for now, main series Pokemon fans should just focus on the upcoming DLC for Pokemon Sword and Shield while they wait for more substantial announcements.
Pokemon Unite is in development for Nintendo Switch and mobile devices.