ThePokemonfranchise is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, and last month’sPokemon Day coincided with events inSwordandShield,Pokemon Masters, and more as The Pokemon Company officially announcedDiamondandPearlremakes. Events are also happening in Niantic’s AR mobile gamePokemon GO, but today the developer announced even more will be happening to celebratePokemon GO’s fifth anniversary.
WhenPokemon GOreleased in early July 2016, it immediately became a phenomenon that had long-time fans and newcomers alike wandering their neighborhoods to catch Pokemon from the Kanto region. It has continued to be successful in the years since thanks to constant updates adding new events, regions, and monsters, with player spending reaching itsbiggest single-day spike since 2016 during Pokemon GO Fest 2020.
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To celebrate this ongoing success, today Niantic announced there will be aPokemon TCGcard based onPokemon GO’s Professor Willow releasing in summer 2021. More details about the card’s artwork, in-game use, and availability will be announced in “late May 2021” according to Niantic’s blog post, though it says the card is planned to be obtainable whereverPokemoncards are sold around the world.
While it is coming up onPokemon GO’s fifth anniversary, 2021 also marks the 25th anniversary of the franchise’s trading card game - which itself has seen attention this year through the release oflimited-edition McDonald’sPokemoncards. Because of this, the Professor Willow card is only listed as part one of Niantic’s collaboration with the TCG, and further announcements will be made as more events are determined.
Whether or not future parts of the collaboration will take the form of additional trading cards or events based around cards set inPokemon GOis yet to be announced, but the latter seems likely as a cross-promotional stunt. The franchise is no stranger to this kind of crossover, as both DeNA’sPokemon Masters EXandNiantic’sPokemon GOhostedPokemonmovie tie-in eventslast year prior to the release ofSecrets of the Junglein Japan.
Regardless of how future collaborations pan out, fans of the mobile game and TCG should look forward to finding out more about the Professor Willow card in May. WithPokemon GOseeing such a consistent level of success for The Pokemon Company since launch, it makes sense for everyone to celebrate its anniversary. As the developer grows more popular it has also given back to its fan community, for example withNiantic recently launching a Black Developers Initiative.
Pokemon GOis available now on Android and iOS devices.
