The time has come, friends, for Pokemon Global Link, the service which facilitated a good chunk of the Pokemon franchise’s online functionality over the past decade, to end. The service, often shortened to simply PGL, tied into games like Pokemon Black and White to Pokemon Sun and Moon on the Nintendo 3DS. With the release of Pokemon Sword and Shield, however, the games have shifted those online functions elsewhere, and Pokemon Global Link will be shuttering early next year.
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The shutdown should come as no surprise to anyone that’s paying attention, of course. With the release of every new mainline game in the Pokemon franchise for the past nine years since its inception, the Pokemon Global Link has closed up shop for a bit to then start service for the next game. This time, however, the online bits will go through Nintendo Switch Online and Pokemon Home, an unreleased service that will allow Pokemon transfers and more for Sword and Shield. In other words, the Pokemon Global Link’s days were numbered.
“After more than nine years of operation, the Pokรฉmon Global Link (PGL) service will be retired on February 24, 2020, at 23:59 UTC,” Pokemon Global Link recently announced online. “After PGL service has ended, you will no longer be able to use any gameplay features that require a connection to the PGL on your Pokรฉmon Ultra Sun, Pokรฉmon Ultra Moon, Pokรฉmon Sun, or Pokรฉmon Moon games. You will still be able to use other online functionality apart from the PGL.”
Given that Pokemon Home will replace some of those services, and Pokemon Global Link is officially going the way of the dinosaur in February, it would make sense for the new service to launch somewhere around then. But then again, Pokemon Global Link doesn’t support Sword and Shield anyway, so there’s already a gap of sorts.
What do you think about the discontinuation of Pokemon Global Link? Any fond memories of using the service previously? Let us know in the comments, or hit me up directly on Twitter at @rollinbishop to talk all things gaming!
Pokemon Sword and Shield are now available for the Nintendo Switch. Pokemon Home is currently set to release early next year, with no official date set as of yet. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the Pokemon franchise right here.
