Pokémon Unite Anniversary Event Has Launched

Today marks the first anniversary of Pokémon Unite, the free-to-play 5v5 MOBA based on the popular Pokémon series. Ever since its launch, the game has been supported with new events, holowear cosmetics, and (so far) eight battle passes. Even more crucial is that 16 additional Pokémon characters have brought its playable roster up to 36 total.

Naturally, that means that there’s plenty to look forward to. A whole lot of content has been added and even more will be added soon in celebration of the anniversary. Some of thee additions are permanent and some will only be available for a limited time though.

With the Peak Condition battle pass ending yesterday, the ninth battle pass has begun and features new holowear, with Band Style Pikachu and Songstress Style: Wigglytuff. Alongside the new battle pass is the Anniversary Cake Challenge which runs until September 1^st and offers unique rewards.

Something else to look forward to is the Icy Glaceon Challenge which runs until August 14^th. Completing the missions that are a part of it will unlock Glaceon’s Unite license and allow players to use them. Five more new Pokémon are also being added for the anniversary event and the two others revealed so far include the ultra beast Buzzwole on August 3^rd and Tyranitar on August 15^th.

Glaceon isn’t the only Pokémon that will be available to unlock without needing to use a currency. The unite licenses and specific holowear for Pikachu, Lucario, Blastoise, Snorlax, and Sylveon can be unlocked just for logging in for five days over the next twelve weeks. Players who already have the unite licenses for those Pokémon or the associated holowear will instead receive 100 Aeos coins.

In terms of mechanics, there is a new system called Boost Emblems being added. Each features a different Pokémon on it and they come in bronze, silver, and gold rarities. They’re available as new drops for the energy rewards mechanic.

The final thing being added is a limited-time PvE quick battle mode called Boss Rush. This mode pits a team of players against a powerful boss Pokémon with better rewards given for better scores. It’s available for three days starting today. After that, it will be available for a week starting on July 31^st and another week on August 14^th. The game is no stranger to limited-time modes, as they previously had Full-Fury Battles during the Pokémon day events.

Pokémon Unite typically already has a lot of concurrent events and challenge systems in place and this celebration is adding a lot on top of those. With how limited some of this content is though, players will likely need to check back and log in often if they want to keep up. Check out the image below to have a better understanding of all the content planned for the anniversary event’s first month.