Like many traditional games in the series, Nintendo Switch’s upcoming Pokemon RPGs–Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee–will feature online play. However, there have been conflicting reports over whether or not players would need to subscribe to Nintendo’s premium online service to take advantage of those features. The Pokemon Company has now confirmed that will indeed be the case.
In a statement shared with GameSpot, The Pokemon Company elaborated more about the online features that will be available in the Let’s Go titles and confirmed players will need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription in order to play the games online. The statement reads:
“Pokemon: Let’s Go, Pikachu and Pokemon: Let’s Go, Eevee will have online play functionality. Battling and trading with other players over the Internet or locally will be available in these games. However, the feature set will be somewhat simplified in comparison to previous games in that there is no GTS, Wonder Trade, or Battle Spot (Rating Battle, Free Battle, and Online Competition, etc.) for example. Further details will be revealed at a later date. An active membership for the Nintendo Switch Online service, which is scheduled to begin in September of this year, will be required to access these features.”
As mentioned above, Switch’s paid online service is scheduled to launch sometime in September. Subscriptions will be available for one month (US $4 / £3.49 / AU $6), three months (US $8 / £7 / AU $12), and 12 months (US $20 / £18 / AU $30). Nintendo will also offer a $35 / £31.49 / AU $55 family plan that allows eight Nintendo account holders to share a single membership.
In addition to online play, the Nintendo Switch Online service offers subscribers cloud saves. Members will also have access to a library of classic NES games, which will also feature added online play. 20 NES games will be available when the service launches, with additional titles being added “regularly.”
Let’s Go, Pikachu and Let’s Go, Eevee launch for Switch on November 16. The games are based on Pokemon Yellow and take place in the classic Kanto region. They also feature integration with Pokemon Go; players can catch wild Pokemon in the Switch games by simulating throwing a Poke Ball, and they can transfer monsters they’ve captured in the mobile game over to the Let’s Go titles. You can read more about the titles in our roundup of everything we know about Pokemon Let’s Go.
