It’s been six months since the Pokemon TCG Live beta first launched for select regions. Testing has continued slowly since then, but now, for the first time, it is opening its doors to players from two more countries.
Joining Canada and Mexico, players in Australia and New Zealand will be able to download and play this new digital adaptation of the Pokemon TCG on iOS, Android, PC, and Mac devices from today.
According to the official Pokemon site, users in the two new countries will have access to all the functionality the beta currently provides. This includes transferring your collection from the previous TCG Online, making and playing with new decks, and redeeming Live code cards found in booster packs.
This is the first time any new regions have been added to the beta test, despite it launching way back in February of this year. TCG Live is meant to be the successor to TCG Online, and updates the Pokemon TCG’s digital offerings for an environment dominated by games like Magic: The Gathering Arena and Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. It features a jazzed-up interface, cross-play between platforms, daily quests, and, as is always the way for digital TCGs, a battle pass.
However, one of the key ways TCG Live is aiming to differentiate itself from the competition is by being completely free of any microtransactions. While you can purchase and redeem physical booster packs, the only way to buy more in-game is through using Crystals, which are solely earned through gameplay. The announcement explicitly mentions that crystals are “earned in-game”, and continues to make no mention of any real-world transactions, meaning this promise appears to be still in effect.
If you’re hoping to make the jump from TCG Online to TCG Live, and want to take your existing cards with you, all you need to do is log into the TCG Live client with the same Trainer Club account you previously used for Online. However, you can elect to hold off on completing the transfer until the end of the beta when Online shuts down, to ensure you can keep playing both versions while the newer, shinier Live is still in testing.
Pokemon TCG Live is available in Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia now. Dates for further regions, or even a full-scale launch, have yet to be announced.