Pokémon UNITE exits Championship Series; Aeos Crown set for 2027

Play! Pokémon announced that Pokémon UNITE will be removed from the Play! Pokémon Championship Series and the Pokémon World Championships after the 2026 season. The Pokémon Company will run a separate international tournament called Pokémon UNITE Aeos Crown 2027 Tokyo.

Aeos Crown 2027 Tokyo will begin with online regional qualifiers tentatively starting in November 2026. Up to 32 teams that advance through those online events will receive invitations and travel support to compete in the Tokyo finals, scheduled for early 2027. The event will be organized outside the Play! Pokémon Championship Series framework.

Updated rules for the Video Game Championships (VGC) for 2027 state that official VGC matches will allow play only on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 family systems. Pokémon Champions, which served as the official VGC title in 2026, is referenced in the new rule text with that device limitation. The wording does not explicitly ban a mobile version, but it restricts Championship Series participation to Switch-family devices. Play! Pokémon plans to publish a device policy specific to the 2027 Pokémon World Championships at a later date.

Pokémon UNITE joined the official global competition in 2022. Its removal means the title will no longer appear in the Play! Pokémon Championship Series or at the World Championships after the 2026 season.

The change was part of a broader update to the 2027 Championship Series that covered qualification rules, event schedules, age divisions and global challenges. Updated rules and event outlines are posted on the Championship Series website, and organizers said further details on device policies and event logistics will follow.