Back in September of last year The Pokemon Company announced that they’d be sunsetting their Pokemon TCG Online card game app and replacing it with a new refreshed take on a digital adaptation of their popular Pokemon trading card game. The new game is called Pokemon Trading Card Game Live and the developers describe it as “a new online game that allows players to enjoy the Pokémon Trading Card Game in an updated digital format." Crucially, players will also be able to transfer their progress from the current game into the new one, and you can learn more about how that works right here. They continue, “Similar to the tabletop version of the Pokémon TCG that fans have loved for over 25 years, Pokémon TCG Live features fan-favorite activities like building decks and battling with friends, as well as gameplay modes and daily quests for all types of players regardless of their skill level." While no hard release date had been revealed yet, it seems like things are getting mighty close as next week a Canadian soft launch will be kicking off for Pokemon Trading Card Game Live on every platform it’s coming to: iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows. Here’s a brand new trailer.

The limited beta kicks off next week on February 22nd, and after that day arrives you should be able to access the iOS version through this link and the Android version through this link. In Canadian app stores, of course. Windows PC and macOS players can access the game through this page here. One very cool thing worth highlighting is that while the Pokemon TCG Online app has always been iPad-only, the Pokemon Trading Card Game Live app that is replacing it will also support iPhones. Pokemon Trading Card Game Live also boasts being a free to play game with no in-app purchases, so I’m very interested to see how it all shakes out. I’m not sure if the beta will be region-locked or not but I’ll certainly try to take it for a spin with my trusty Canadian App Store account next Tuesday.