New F2P Digital Pokémon TCG For Mobile, PC, And Mac In The Works

A new digital Pokémon TCG is in the works, the Pokémon Company announced today. The new game will be called Pokémon Trading Card Game Live and will be available soon for a wide range of devices -- Apple and Android phones, PC, and Mac -- and will be a free-to-play title with optional purchases.

The website for the game contains all the typical details you'd expect for a digital TCG. You can create a custom avatar and challenge players from around the world, with language support for English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Your collection of cards can be built from multiple sources, including scanning code cards, buying packs, or completing in-game quests. In-game currency can be used to purchase individual cards, and there is also the option to purchase additional customization options, which will probably require real-money currency.

There's no date set for the launch of Pokémon Trading Card Game Live, nor is there any indication of what will happen to the existing Pokémon TCG Online. That game was developed by Dire Wolf Digital and has been in operation for over 10 years, so we'll have to wait and see if it will continue -- and if it doesn't, whether there will be any compensation for long-time players in the new game.

UPDATE: Pokémon super-site Serebii.net has posted loads of additional details about the game. These include:

• A mobile soft launch in Canada and a global open beta for PC and Mac later this year.
• Most of your content from the old Pokémon TCG Online will carry over to Pokémon TCG Live if you use the same account. (That would seem to indicate that the previous game will not continue.)
• There will be a battle pass.
• There are three currencies: Coins, which are earned via gameplay and can be spent on avatar apparel, emotes, deck boxes, and sleeves; Credits, achieved by hitting milestones or for transferring your collection from the old game; and Crystals, which are earned from quests and can be spent on booster packs, promo cards, and special bundles, or to upgrade the Battle Pass to the Premium Pass. That last one also sounds like it should be purchasable with real money.
• Despite being called the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online, players cannot trade cards.