Masaaki Hoshino, producer of Pokémon Champions: “Our goal is for people who couldn’t play in the past to be able to play today”
Competitive battling aims to become more accessible for Pokémon Trainers.
Pokémon Champions arrives with the intention of making long-overdue adjustments to the franchise’s competitive scene. Yesterday, Pokémon surprised fans by revealing new information about the title, and at MeriStation we had the opportunity to go hands-on with it. In addition to being among the first to try the experience, we also took part in a roundtable discussion with Masaaki Hoshino, producer of the game and director of development at The Pokémon Company, where we spoke about the approach they are taking to welcome new players.
An accessible experience for players
The competitive scene, regardless of the discipline, is often complex. However, the more people who participate, the healthier the ecosystem becomes. Pokémon has always been defined by battles that go beyond simple type advantages, requiring strategy, metagame knowledge, and teams capable of adapting to constant shifts. The core objective of Pokémon Champions is to reduce the barrier to entry for competitive battling by separating it from traditional systems that, until now, were almost mandatory. One of Hoshino’s key goals is clear: “for people who couldn’t play in the past to be able to play today.”
“In terms of design, the game has been made as fair as possible. Many systems have been simplified, and the parameters have been adjusted with that philosophy in mind. Additionally, in terms of accessibility, the game will eventually be available on mobile devices as well.”
Hoshino also highlighted several design decisions intended to make competitive battling more approachable through Pokémon Champions. From his perspective, the team has succeeded in “distilling the very core of Pokémon battles.”
“For some players, Pokémon battles can be a bit complicated, especially for a more casual audience. This was something we wanted to address from the very beginning with Pokémon Champions. Simplifying the metrics is only part of it, but here we’ve distilled the very heart of Pokémon battles,” Hoshino explained.
One of the most relevant features for new players is the option to create teams automatically. “Team building can be a challenge for someone new, but being able to generate teams automatically allows players to jump straight into battles. In the past, you had to catch Pokémon, train them, and prepare them. Now it’s much easier to get started, and hopefully Pokémon Champions will allow players to gradually become familiar with competitive play and eventually compete at a higher level.”
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Pokémon Champions launches on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 8.
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