Pokemon Duel mobile game is shutting down
You can spend your gems until the service ends on Oct. 31.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
The Pokemon Company has announced that its mobile game Pokemon Duel will be shutting down on Oct. 31. You won't be able to install, update or even use the app. Already, you can't buy Gems but you can spend them until the game shuts down, and as of Aug. 26, you won't be able to check monthly rankings or get rewards.
Pokemon Duel was released with no warning in January 2017 on iOS and Android. The free-to-play strategy board game is turn based, where you move Pokemon counters to your opponent's side of the arena and take part in dueling mini-games. Using Gems, you could unlock chests with new Pokemon counters to use.
"To express our thanks for playing the game, we've added a bunch of extras for the remaining months," the Pokemon Company said Friday. "As of now, you may choose figures from the exchangeable lineup depending on your play history. All players can get one figure for every 50 League Match duels they've played in."
You can also get 50 figures if you've spent any money in the game, which you can access by going to the Claim Player Pass Figures button in the Shop.
Once Duel fades out, you can still play the hugely popular Pokemon Go AR game on your phone, with Pokemon Sword and Shield launching later this year for Switch.
Pokemon Sword and Shield is launching on the Nintendo Switch on Nov. 15. The game is set to bring hordes of new Pokemon monsters in an update called Gen 8.
