New Pokemon Trading Card Game App Allegedly in Development

Earlier this morning, the Wall Street Journal broke news that Nintendo was working on a new Zelda game specifically for mobile devices. While that was the big news that got everyone excited, the Wall Street Journal is also reporting that the Pokemon Company is developing a new mobile app for its popular Pokemon Trading Card Game.

The report didn't give many other details, but it's likely a mobile version of "Pokemon Trading Card Game Online" (PTCGO), an online service that allows players to collect cards, build decks, and battle other players online. Players use QR codes found in physical Pokemon Trading Card Game products (like booster packs or theme boxes) as well as online purchases to get cards in PTCGO.

PTCGO already has an app for iPads and other tablets, so it shouldn't be too hard to develop a new app specifically for mobile devices.

It's also possible that the Pokemon Company has a wholly separate app in mind for mobile players. In 1999, Nintendo released a Pokemon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy, so it's always possible that they could be thinking of a separate, self-contained product that doesn't require the purchase of physical trading cards.

Whatever the new app is, it follows a string of popular Pokemon-themed apps. In addition to the worldwide phenomenon Pokemon Go, the Pokemon Company has also released the match-em game Pokemon Shuffle, the mobile "board game" Pokemon Duel, and the kid-friendly Camp Pokemon, as well as the Pokemon TV app which streams certain episodes of the TV series for free.