Nintendo's new free-to-play Pokemon Champions battler has its own $50 yearly subscription

Nintendo's latest free-to-play Pokemon game released today, complete with paid battle passes and a hefty subscription centered around the game.

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Pokemon Champions just launched on Switch and Switch 2, offering free arena battles, creature collecting, and trainer customization. Nintendo refers to this game as free-to-start, which is the company's nomenclature for free-to-play, but there's also an array of paid options that significantly improve your experience, including a premium battle pass, a paid membership subscription, and even a starter pack bundle.

The new F2P Pokemon game follows a typical live service model with monetized options. The premium battle pass costs $9.99, and retroactively unlocks all premium benefits from previously unlocked tiers. The pass rewards range from Victory Points (VP) currency, tickets, cosmetics, and even Pokemon. These passes expire every season, though, and auto-renew is turned on once signed up.

On a business level, the membership option is the most interesting part of the game. It's priced competitively to the digital subs of other games, offering a middling cost when compared to MMOs and other live service titles that require subscriptions to play, with the membership costing $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.

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Nintendo also requires an active Switch Online membership in order to play Pokemon Champions in online multiplayer matches with other users. The cheapest Switch Online subscription goes for $20/year.

One of the best features of the new F2P game is Pokemon Home support, allowing users to transfer pocket monsters they've captured from other games and use them in Pokemon Champions.

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As for some of the unlocks, these are also a mix of the kinds of things you'd see in an MMO or live service title.

New Pokemon recruit lineups are on a 22-hour countdown timer, but you can use VP (earned in-game and on the battle pass) or Quick Coupons (also earned in-game and offered as extras in the premium $9.99 battle pass). Recruiting a new Pokemon costs 2,500 VP.

Users get 10,000 VP to start, and extra VP is doled out as a special one-time bonus for playing before August 2026. VP is also spent on various in-game items like Mega Stones, accessories, outfits, and even songs.

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Overall, Pokemon Champions looks to be another solid potential earner for Nintendo's growing free-to-play games lineup. This marks the fourth free Pokemon game that Nintendo offers on the eShop.

Here are more details lifted from the game's terms of service on Switch:

"The service is free to start, however, we may permit you to use real-world money to buy in-service virtual content. Certain features of the service, including certain virtual content, may be unavailable if not purchased.

"A new battle pass will be available each season. Purchasing a premium battle pass lets you receive additional rewards when the level of your battle pass increases.

"You can receive the following benefits by purchasing a membership, depending on the region."

• The capacity of your Box will increase by 1,000 Pokemon
• The number of Battle Teams you can use will increase by 15
• Membership-exclusive missions and battle songs will be unlocked