Pokémon Duel to Cease Operations

[Crossroads Bulletin]

The game’s three year life is finally coming to an end.

Since it first launched in April 2016 in Japan and January 2017 internationally, Pokémon Duel has been a very popular mobile game. Following in the footsteps of the less successful Pokémon Trading Figure Game, Pokémon Duel saw large success because of its easy accessibility on mobile devices and constant updating to include new mechanics and figures. However, all good things must come to an end, and unfortunately the time has come for Pokémon Duel to cease operations. On October 31, most of the features that Pokémon Duel has to offer will no longer be accessible.
This is very heartbreaking news for all of those that were fans of the game. However, the devs seem to understand this, and to pay tribute to these players, they have made a few changes to the game to allow maximize fun to be had for the remaining few months of playtime. Depending on whether or not players spent money on the games or how many duels they participated in up until this point, players will be able to pick any figure they want from the entire library, including several newly added figures, completely free of charge. Players who spent money on the game are allowed to pick up to fifty new figures. Players who didn’t will be able to pick figures per how many fifty duels they participated in, so if you participated in more then 200 duels you get to pick four figures. This also appears to be a monthly feature, so players will be able to do this four times before operations cease. In addition, the material exchange now allows for gem payments, making these figures also much cheaper and more accessible. I was already able to obtain several figures I had been wanting for a long time, and it’s kind of bittersweet now that I have them.
As someone who has played Pokémon Duel for almost all three years it’s been out, this news is deeply saddening. I really liked Duel for its unique chess-like battle style and element of pure randomness that meant even when all looked lost, a single lucky spin could turn things in your favor. I have plenty of fun memories from this game that maybe I’ll share in another article one day. But for now I think I’ll spend the rest of the day playing with my new figures.
The post Pokémon Duel to Cease Operations appeared first on Pokémon Crossroads.


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[Noblejanobii]

Probably doesn’t come across in the article but I’m legitimately torn up about this news so definitely expect a few more final Duel articles in the future. At the very least I’m definitely doing one more final Duel Figure review. But for now I’m going to spend the rest of the day playing one of my favorite side games.

[Blaquaza]

I stopped playing it when it crashed and I lost all my progress, but when I did play it I enjoyed it a lot. It was nice seeing the old TFG style modernised in a format that didn't cost ridiculous amounts of money, and it's a fun concept that changes up how people play Pokémon. I really hope it gets a sequel, it'd be a shame if it doesn't. :(

Also, speaking of the TFG, I managed to get some figures of it on eBay, including ones that were part of an unreleased third set. Needless to say I was happy with those purchases, even if they are fake like I suspect. :D

[Noblejanobii]

I stopped playing it when it crashed and I lost all my progress, but when I did play it I enjoyed it a lot. It was nice seeing the old TFG style modernised in a format that didn't cost ridiculous amounts of money, and it's a fun concept that changes up how people play Pokémon. I really hope it gets a sequel, it'd be a shame if it doesn't. :(

Also, speaking of the TFG, I managed to get some figures of it on eBay, including ones that were part of an unreleased third set. Needless to say I was happy with those purchases, even if they are fake like I suspect. :D

Yeah I actually did an article last month on the TFG and Duel if you want to read that. Either way while I’m really sad it is kinda nice to finally have Mega Charizard X and Y. I was never able to get them until now and it’s adding a nice flavor to the game. Also got a land form Shaymin to match my sky form Shaymin after so many years.

[Suicune's Fire]

I loved this when it came out, but like every other mobile game I've ever played (except Pokemon GO xD), I eventually got bored and uninstalled it. But wow...three years is a really short lifespan. I'm surprised they only had it going for that long. It still seems like a new game to me.

I think I'll reinstall it and have a look. I'm preeeetty sure I spent like $10 or so, so maybe I'll get some awesome figures. :3 RIP, Pokemon Duel. I think it was one of the better ones.

[Chakramaster]

Yeah I really enjoyed this game from the start. Once it started having some issues I stopped playing as much. Kept freezing and not being responsive to touch. So the only way I could do anything is keep pressing AI then win/lose. I had to restart the app.

Sadly I didn't beat the story. So that means I only have a few months now to beat that. I think I was pretty close though. I took a look through the figure list and...I'm surprised there's no Jirachi. My second favorite too. Too bad. Hey, at least I got to pick up a good few of the ones I had missed out on so far!

[Noblejanobii]

Yeah I really enjoyed this game from the start. Once it started having some issues I stopped playing as much. Kept freezing and not being responsive to touch. So the only way I could do anything is keep pressing AI then win/lose. I had to restart the app.

Sadly I didn't beat the story. So that means I only have a few months now to beat that. I think I was pretty close though. I took a look through the figure list and...I'm surprised there's no Jirachi. My second favorite too. Too bad. Hey, at least I got to pick up a good few of the ones I had missed out on so far!

The really rather unfortunate thing is that the story mode has never been fully released either. Four hotels have gone completely unreleased and probably will never be released.

[Chakramaster]

The really rather unfortunate thing is that the story mode has never been fully released either. Four hotels have gone completely unreleased and probably will never be released.

Which is pretty disappointing. The story was pretty interesting where I left off. It just deterred me from playing with that bug I kept having reoccur.

[Noblejanobii]

Which is pretty disappointing. The story was pretty interesting where I left off. It just deterred me from playing with that bug I kept having reoccur.

Yeah I know exactly what bug you’re talking about. Best I can recommend is restarting the app. That resolved it for me.

[MC Elesa]

I stopped playing it when it crashed and I lost all my progress, but when I did play it I enjoyed it a lot. It was nice seeing the old TFG style modernised in a format that didn't cost ridiculous amounts of money, and it's a fun concept that changes up how people play Pokémon. I really hope it gets a sequel, it'd be a shame if it doesn't. :(

Also, speaking of the TFG, I managed to get some figures of it on eBay, including ones that were part of an unreleased third set. Needless to say I was happy with those purchases, even if they are fake like I suspect. :D

I actually got my hands on the Misty figure a few years ago. It was intreging and cool to me that somebody at Pokemon recognize Misty from her in-game design rather then her anime one. So I figure it would be cool to get that figure if the chance ever came up (at a reasonable price). It is a pretty cool figure and sits on my desk along with all my other mini-figures.

Probably doesn’t come across in the article but I’m legitimately torn up about this news so definitely expect a few more final Duel articles in the future. At the very least I’m definitely doing one more final Duel Figure review. But for now I’m going to spend the rest of the day playing one of my favorite side games.

It is disappointing to see. Your Duel articles were always cool and unique to have on the site.