The Pokemon TCG world is getting ready to say goodbye to an old classic as it's been revealed that Pokemon Trading Card Game Online will officially shut down on June 5. The original digital trading card game for the franchise has been replaced with the new Pokemon TCG Live.Pokemon Trading Card Game Online was the original introduction of Pokemon TCG to digital gaming. It launched way back in 2011 and was a huge hit for some time. Ultimately, however, the game is being replaced in favor of Pokemon TCG Live, which is set to act as a kind of facelift to the original, updating certain antiquated design features and making the game feel much more comfortable on mobile devices. Pokemon TCG Live has been in global beta since November 2022, and as the game creeps closer to a full release, its predecessor also creeps closer to its shutdown date.The news comes via the official Pokemon TCG Twitter page, which typically shares useful info about things like the Pokemon TCG 2022 world championship decks. This time the account shared that Pokemon Trading Card Game Online will officially be removed from app stores and the website on June 5. The servers for the game are also being shut down on that day. Back in March, the game officially dropped support of all newly released TCG products in favor of those products being brought to the newer Pokemon TCG Live.
The good news is that, for any players rushing to ensure their strongest Pokemon EX cards are protected, there is no cutoff date for migrating accounts over from Pokemon Trading Card Game Online to Pokemon TCG Live. Even after the servers for the former are shut down, account migration to the latter will still be possible, and the shutdown announcement states that there is currently no date for when this will stop being possible.
Pokemon TCG Live plans to officially launch out of beta on June 8, just a handful of days after the complete shutdown of Pokemon Trading Card Game Online. It's currently only available for PC and mobile devices, despite many believing Pokemon TCG Live would be a perfect match for the Nintendo Switch. The game in its current state is apparently very unpopular with many players, holding just 2.1 stars on Google Play in contrast to 4.5 stars for its predecessor. Many of the negative reviews complain about major bugs that keep people from playing. It clearly still has a ways to go, but the developers have some time to get it to a better working state.
Pokemon TCG Live launches on on June 8 for Mobile and PC.