Pokémon UNITE Will End Service in March 2027; Aeos Crown Stays

The Pokémon Company and developer TiMi Studio Group announced on October 27, 2026 that Pokémon UNITE will end service on Tuesday, March 23, 2027, on both Nintendo Switch and mobile. The date and the first changes were set out in the official notice on the game's news page, as reported the same day by Gematsu, GosuGamers and the Japanese outlet Saiga NAK, and a day earlier in US time by Shacknews.

The notice also settled the future of the game's competitive scene. The Pokémon UNITE Aeos Crown 2027 Tokyo tournament will still be held as previously announced, with qualifiers starting on December 5, 2026, according to Gematsu, GosuGamers and Saiga NAK.

The service dates from Gematsu's report of the official notice; the Worlds prize figure from Dexerto's July 15, 2026 report on the 2027 season changes.

What was announced

The end-of-service date is stated in the notice as Tuesday, March 23, 2027, at 00:00 UTC, according to Gematsu. Saiga NAK listed the closing time as 9:00 a.m. on March 23, which is the same moment as 00:00 UTC when read in Japan time. Both the Switch and the iOS and Android versions close then.

GosuGamers describes Pokémon UNITE as a free-to-play MOBA, a team-versus-team battle game. Gematsu recorded that the Switch version launched on July 21, 2021, and the iOS and Android versions followed on September 22, 2021. Counting from the Switch launch, the service will have run for about five years and eight months.

Shacknews described the shutdown as announced on Monday evening in the United States and noted that the game had been removed from the Pokémon World Championships lineup. Neither Shacknews nor the other outlets reported a reason for ending the service, and none was given.

What changes between now and March

Counting from the announcement on October 27, there are 147 days, or 21 weeks, until the closing date. The first change took effect at once. Sales of Aeos gems, the game's paid currency, were suspended at 05:00 UTC on October 27, Gematsu reported. Saiga NAK listed it as 2:00 p.m., which is the same moment in Japan time. Gems that players already hold can still be spent until service ends. Saiga NAK added that the notice tells players where to check their gem balance, using the plus icon at the top right of the Home screen.

Memberships to the UNITE Club were handled in the same way. New memberships stop and automatic renewals are suspended from that moment, and current members keep their benefits until the end of their paid period, according to Gematsu and GosuGamers. Saiga NAK uses a different name for the subscription, UNITE Membership, so the same service appears under two names across the reports. Gematsu and GosuGamers both use the UNITE Club name.

The update on November 12 is the second date to know. It adds a special event in which players can earn items that have appeared in the game, such as UNITE Licenses and Holowear cosmetics, according to Gematsu, GosuGamers and Saiga NAK. GosuGamers reported that the companies described the event as a way to thank everyone.

Laid against the calendar, the notice leaves a long tail. The special-event update on November 12 comes 16 days after the announcement, Aeos Crown qualifying opens 23 days after that on December 5, and the 108 days from December 5 to the closing date on March 23 are the stretch in which the game's own tournament runs alongside a service with a fixed end. That arithmetic comes from the dates in the reports rather than from any statement by the publishers, and the reports do not say whether further updates are planned between November 12 and the end of service.

The Library and what players keep

The same update brings a Library feature. According to Saiga NAK, the Library lets players view battle records, earned licenses, Holowear and similar content after service ends. Players must download the required Library data before the end date to keep that access. Gematsu added that Library data generally cannot be moved between devices, and that support for the feature stops when the service stops.

GosuGamers summed up the end state plainly: after March 23, players cannot log in or play matches, and the game is largely inaccessible except for the data they downloaded. Shacknews reported that the developers said they were looking into ways for players to interact with their Pokémon and unlocked items after the shutdown, and no result of that work had been announced as of October 27.

The notice also covers content created about the game. Gematsu reported that the Pokémon UNITE Game Content Guidelines for Online Platforms will no longer be published or maintained once service ends. The guidelines cover how the game's content can be used on online platforms. Shacknews added that support for video and image use will stop at the same time.

Refunds for unused gems

Saiga NAK's report adds a refund detail the other outlets did not report. According to Saiga NAK, the notice says unused paid gems will be refunded after service ends, and players who hold them should keep the Switch software installed and the mobile app on their device until the refund process is complete. Detailed instructions are to be posted on the official website after service ends.

Gematsu, GosuGamers and Shacknews do not mention refunds, so the terms, timing and regional scope of the refund were not set out.

Aeos Crown 2027 Tokyo

The competitive scene has its own schedule. The Pokémon UNITE Aeos Crown 2027 Tokyo tournament is still scheduled, with qualifying rounds beginning on Saturday, December 5, 2026, according to Gematsu and Saiga NAK. Shacknews called it the game's final tournament.

The event was first outlined in July. In its July 15, 2026 report on the 2027 season changes, Dexerto reported that Play! Pokémon confirmed UNITE would be removed from the Championship Series and the Pokémon World Championships, and that its official competition would continue in a separate event, Aeos Crown 2027 Tokyo. Shacknews, reporting the same day, said teams that qualified would receive travel support from The Pokémon Company, with more details to come.

Dexerto's July report described the plan in more detail. Online regional qualifiers were then tentatively set to begin in November 2026 and were open to eligible teams worldwide. Regional winners would receive invitations and travel awards, and the final was planned for late March 2027 in Tokyo with up to 32 teams playing in person. Prize money was to be paid in both the qualifiers and the final, but no amounts had been announced. The October notice sets the start of qualifying at December 5 and does not restate the date of the final.

The road out of the Championship Series

The July decision was the first sign of the end. Dexerto reported on July 15 that the announcement said UNITE would no longer be included in either the Championship Series or the Pokémon World Championships. Shacknews reported that the 2026 World Championships, held at the end of August in San Francisco, would be the game's last appearance there.

UNITE had joined the World Championships in 2022, according to Dexerto, which also reported that the 2026 UNITE Championship Series offered more than US$1 million in total prizes, including US$500,000 at the World Championships.

The final World Championship was played on August 30, 2026. Levelup reported that ZETA DIVISION of Japan won the UNITE world title, beating KOMAÏ of France in the final. Another report from that day, by the fan site Nintendo & Pokémon Blog, confirmed the winner and said the championships ended on August 30 after three days of competition in San Francisco.

Levelup's match-by-match account describes four matches in the final. ZETA DIVISION won the opener, with a Groudon capture called decisive, and dominated the second, and KOMAÏ won the third after passing 200 points before the five-minute mark and then winning a fight over Rayquaza. ZETA DIVISION won the fourth, a close game that it settled with another Groudon fight in the closing minutes and a 100-point lead.

The game's official site announced the result on the same weekend: ZETA DIVISION of Japan beat KOMAÏ of Europe in the Grand Final in San Francisco, and the notice used the occasion to reveal that Morpeko and Toxtricity were coming to the game in September, with more details on Jolteon and Flareon to be released later. ZETA DIVISION had finished runner-up to PERU in 2025, according to Sportskeeda. The title came at the event that Shacknews had described in July as the game's last appearance at the World Championships.

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