There's a new Pokémon trading card game coming to PC

News
By published

Though some fans feel it's a bit of a downgrade over previous options.

Two sets of pokemon cards, with two cards battling across an inky vortex in the center
(Image credit: The Pokemon Company)

The mainline Pokémon games might still be locked to Nintendo consoles, but did you know you've been able to play the trading card game on PC since 2012? Now, after nine years, The Pokémon Company has announced a long-due successor to Pokémon TCG Online with the fancier new Pokémon TCG Live.

Like its predecessor, Live will let you play online with folks across PC, Mac, Android and iOS, and uses the same digital codes to transfer physical card collections to the game. But this new iteration also features online matchmaking and battle passes, along with an overhauled character customisation system that replaces somewhat-creepy 2D sprites with somewhat-creepy 3D avatars.

Collections from the old game should carry over too, though cards outside of Standard format won't be playable until a later Expanded format update (while Legacy format cards straight up won't be supported). Pokémon news site Serebii also notes that trading won't be possible in Live—a bit of a downer for something that literally has "trading" in the name.

Some parts of the fanbase are already calling Live a downgrade, citing a difference in visuals between PTCGO's digital tabletop board and Live's more abstracted playing field. The old client for playing Pokémon cards online was starting to show its age, but the limited feature set seems to have many concerned about its replacement.

Pokémon TCG Live is currently expected to hit a global open beta on PC later this year. When it does, Pokémon TCG Online will go offline.

Natalie Clayton
Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.

Read more
Prismatic Evolutions Pokemon TCG
Pokémon TCG Prismatic Evolution scalpers are starting to hurt, thanks to the promise of reprints despite the current lack of supply
The Nintendo Switch 2 as shown in its announcement trailer with orange and blue accents and removeable controllers.
I will get a Switch 2 for Pokémon and no handheld gaming PC on Earth can stop me
Palworld early access
Palworld's Crossplay Update does far more than let you play with console buddies, adding photo mode, a drafting table and 'dimensional Pal Storage'
A blue dragon rises into storm clouds
Wizards of the Coast throws a bone to players who miss vanilla Magic: The Gathering with a dragon-themed set called Tarkir: Dragonstorm
Yu-Gi-Oh! EARLY DAYS COLLECTION screenshot showing a character complaining about losing a battle
This Yu-Gi-Oh! retro collection transported me to a simpler time in TCGs, before Pot of Greed was banned and the Avengers were in Magic: The Gathering
Three sheep with big guns in Palworld.
It was 'super popular to hate Palworld' after launch, says community manager: 'A lot of companies might crumble under the threats, under the pressure'
Latest in Card Game
A blue dragon rises into storm clouds
Wizards of the Coast throws a bone to players who miss vanilla Magic: The Gathering with a dragon-themed set called Tarkir: Dragonstorm
A joker card with other cards in the background
Balatro's publisher doesn't know how big the 1.1 update will be or when it's coming: 'He's just gonna show up one day and say, here's 100 new jokers'
The jester from Balatro, portrayed in unsettling detail in real life, wears an uncanny smile and stares at the viewer.
Balatro's LocalThunk isn't 'trying to pull a Banksy', he just 'wanted to be left alone to make his game'
Hands pushing poker chips on a table
Winning $2.6 billion in this poker videogame has completely ruined fake poker for me
A pack of real life Balatro cards.
The official Balatro Timeline documents the history of 2024's biggest game as its developer went from 'obsessed' with making it to 'shocked' at the reception
Mage cards from Hearthstone's Into the Emerald Dream expansion.
Hearthstone card reveal: If it's wrong to love a magic blue owl, I don't want to be right
Latest in News
Minthara BG3 looking upset
Another round of Baldur's Gate 3 unearthing reveals Minthara can end up living in a sewer, an unused beach ending, and more
A shirtless man rides a big fish underwater
Ark devs distance themselves from AI-generated trailer: 'we did not know that they were doing it'
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
An FPS studio pulled its game from Steam after it got caught linking to malware disguised as a demo, but the dev insists it was actually the victim of a labyrinthine conspiracy
Neighbors Suburban Warfare screenshot a child aims a slingshot at a man from across a cul-de-sac.
A beta of backyard FPS Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is out now, and the balance discussion is hysterical: nerf trash can lids and children
Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer still - woman in the front seat of a car, looking out the back window while holding a wad of cash
The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst
Screenshot from Wreckfest 2
Wreckfest 2 has hit early access for your car-obliterating combat racing enjoyment
More about card games
A blue dragon rises into storm clouds

Wizards of the Coast throws a bone to players who miss vanilla Magic: The Gathering with a dragon-themed set called Tarkir: Dragonstorm
A joker card with other cards in the background

Balatro's publisher doesn't know how big the 1.1 update will be or when it's coming: 'He's just gonna show up one day and say, here's 100 new jokers'

Minthara BG3 looking upset

Another round of Baldur's Gate 3 unearthing reveals Minthara can end up living in a sewer, an unused beach ending, and more
See more latest
Most Popular
Minthara BG3 looking upset
Another round of Baldur's Gate 3 unearthing reveals Minthara can end up living in a sewer, an unused beach ending, and more
Wordle today being played on a phone
Today's Wordle answer for Sunday, March 23
A shirtless man rides a big fish underwater
Ark devs distance themselves from AI-generated trailer: 'we did not know that they were doing it'
Neighbors Suburban Warfare screenshot a child aims a slingshot at a man from across a cul-de-sac.
A beta of backyard FPS Neighbors: Suburban Warfare is out now, and the balance discussion is hysterical: nerf trash can lids and children
Screenshot from Wreckfest 2
Wreckfest 2 has hit early access for your car-obliterating combat racing enjoyment
Alma, the handler from Monster Hunter Wilds, closes her eyes and looks a little disappointed.
Monster Hunter director joined an online hunt, carted first: 'I feel bad about that'
Team Fortress Spy being shocked
An FPS studio pulled its game from Steam after it got caught linking to malware disguised as a demo, but the dev insists it was actually the victim of a labyrinthine conspiracy
Age of Empires 2
Former Age of Empires 2 dev claims Microsoft demanded its first expansion should have a Korean faction, because 'StarCraft sold 3 million copies in Korea'
A 1950s pickup truck smashes through a building while being cornered by a police car in Deliver At All Costs
Chaotic courier sim Deliver At All Costs will crash through your letterbox this May, and its latest trailer is even weirder than I expected
Skyrim warrior performing shout
A bizarre mod that adds human poop to Skyrim led me on an enlightening journey into Viking sanitation: 'Your world will certainly be more immersive, but it will also certainly smell worse'