The newly announced Pokemon Trading Card Game Live is only the latest entry in an ongoing trend. Digital trading card games are more common than ever, and they don't show any signs of showing down. Hearthstone continues to be a major part of Blizzard's brand, while Magic: The Gathering Arena offers an excellent way to play Wizards of the Coast's genre-defining trading card game online. The Pokemon trading card game already followed MtG online with Pokemon TCG Online, but it seems Pokemon TCG Live will expand on that. Pokemon fans don't know just yet when they'll be able to pick up Pokemon Trading Card Game Live, but there's no doubt that it'll play an important role as a new way to experience the card game.
Pokemon Trading Card Game Live will be available on quite a few platforms, including PC, Mac, and mobile devices, giving fans plenty of options on how to play. However, it's extremely surprising to see no sign of a Switch version in the app's announcement. Pokemon is a crucial part of the Nintendo brand, and the Switch is the ongoing hub for all things Nintendo, so it seems like the new trading card app and Nintendo's console would go hand in hand. Ideally Game Freak has another version of the app in development. The Switch is the perfect platform for Pokemon TCG Live.
RELATED: Pokemon Evolution Lines That Should Get Baby Forms
The Switch is Great for Simulating a TCG
There are lots of basic Switch features that make the console great for emulating a trading card game. For one thing, the Switch has a touch screen, meaning players could move around cards by hand just like they would by playing Pokemon TCG Live on mobile devices. Lots of Switch games and apps don't make use of the Switch's touchscreen, so it'd be smart for Nintendo and Game Freak to arrange a Switch version of the game that supports both handheld touch screen players and docked players who use a cursor controlled with a joystick.
The core concept of the Nintendo Switch also lends itself really well to Pokemon TCG Live. When the Switch was first revealed, Nintendo made a big deal out of its modular design, which allowed players to carry it around and easily play games with friends. Trading card games traditionally function in the same way; it's easy for fans to carry a deck around and start playing a game at a moment's notice. Putting Pokemon TCG Live on Switch would make great use of the Switch's modular design. Local multiplayer in handheld mode would be fantastic for Pokemon card game fans on the go.
RELATED: Pokemon is Going All-In on Its Villain Legacy
Pokemon's Ongoing Transformations on Switch
The context in which Pokemon TCG Live got revealed also makes a difference. Right now, the Pokemon IP seems to be in a new era of experimentation, delivering all kinds of surprising titles, from New Pokemon Snap to the MOBA Pokemon Unite to the upcoming open-world Pokemon Legends: Arceus. All of these experimental games use the Switch as their hub, so it only seems right that Pokemon TCG Live joins them, making all of the Pokemon brand's big experiments available in the same place. That would be both a significant convenience for fans and a valuable piece of history, helping to establish the Switch as a place where Pokemon grew.
Even though Pokemon TCG Online is already available, one imagines that Pokemon TCG Live intends to be very different from it. Odds are that, if Live generates a reliable fanbase, it'll receive regular expansions and updates until it's completely incomparable to Online. Ideally, that'll include adding in some Online features that Live is missing, like trading, and then improving on those features over time. Whatever else the developers are planning for the long term, though, it's certain that a Switch version is a must-have for Pokemon TCG Live. Pokemon and the Switch are both too important to Nintendo's brand to keep Pokemon TCG Live and the Switch apart.
Pokemon Trading Card Game Live is in development for Mac, mobile devices, and PC.