Pokemon Unite Anime Crossover Suggests TPC Didn't Want To Shut It Down

Pokemon Unite Is Getting An Anime Netflix Special The Month Before It Gets Shut Down The Pokemon Company Published Oct 28, 2026, 5:30 AM EDT Josh Coulson is an editor at TheGamer covering breaking news on everything from colorful platformers to the latest Lego sets. Primarily a news writer since 2018, Josh has covered just about every major game from the past decade. Now an editor, their focus has shifted to being the leading affiliate expert at the site, building relationships between TheGamer and global brands including Mattel, Funko, and The Pokemon Company. Sign in to your TheGamer account Just over five years after its launch, The Pokemon Company and Tencent are shutting down Pokemon Unite. The bombshell announcement came on Tuesday, confirming the game will close its doors on March 23, 2027, and as the post-mortem on the game continues while it’s still alive, its players are starting to think Tencent is the driving force behind Unite’s imminent closure. Who Is To Blame? Speculation that Tencent is the studio responsible for Unite shutting down, not The Pokemon Company, stems from a post where a fan is stating it as fact. That’s not true, and neither side has confirmed who is to blame. They likely never will. That hasn’t stopped fans from speculating, and it really does seem like Tencent wants out of the Unite game, and there’s not much The Pokemon Company can do about it. Unite is developed by TiMi, a Tencent-owned studio. It’s believed that the Unite contract between Pokemon and Tencent is up for renewal, and that Tencent has simply opted not to enter into a new deal, potentially because it isn’t making enough money from the game. It’s possible, even likely, that Tencent owns the assets and rights to the game, which would explain why Pokemon can’t simply take it back and let Unite live on under a new studio. Unite Is Getting An Anime Special Right Before The Game Is Shut Down The Pokemon Company Pokemon’s Unite plans outside of the game itself lean into the theory that it doesn’t want the game to die. On February 27, 2027, less than a month before the game is shut down forever, a dubbed version of the anime focused on a Unite crossover that was created to promote the game will air on Netflix. As of now, that episode will air as planned, but now fans will be directed to a game that, by that point, will have a little more than three weeks to live. They also won’t be able to buy any of its in-game currency as sales of Aeos Gems have already been halted. Tencent released an altered version of Unite in China in 2024, maintaining the publishing rights to that version - The Pokemon Company holds them everywhere else. More evidence that the studio was trying to find ways to make more money from Unite, fueling the belief that, now its initial contract is coming to an end, it has decided to throw in the towel. The Chinese version of Unite will close two months earlier than the worldwide version, but Chinese players are being compensated for the closure with in-game rewards. Unite fans have been fearing the worst for a while. Not only because Unite was previously shut down in certain countries due to more stringent regulations surrounding loot boxes, but also because it was confirmed that the game would be removed from the Pokemon World Championships rotation. As of now, there are no plans for the game beyond its end of service, nor any hint that there might eventually be a sequel developed without Tencent. Systems Released July 21, 2021 ESRB e Developer(s) TiMi Studios Publisher(s) The Pokemon Company Engine Unity Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Cross-Platform Play Mobile & Switch