'We have no plans'
There's still a lot we don't know about Pokemon Unite, which was revealed in June.
We know it's a MOBA that's basically designed around League of Legends' now-defunct Dominion mode, and that TiMi Studios (not Game Freak) is developing it, in conjunction with Tencent as the publisher. Basically, it sounds like Game Freak and The Pokemon Company licensing Pokemon out as a name-only license for a MOBA project Tencent wanted to do. We know how the general public will react to it, but for now it has been quietly beta tested.
When it does arrive, it will feature cross-play between the Switch and mobile platforms: not typical of a game presented around what is apparently Nintendo property. Is this a gateway to more first-party Switch-to-mobile titles? Not really, says current Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa. Speaking at a recent financial briefing to investors, Furukawa said it was an "advanced discussion", which is basically another way of saying it was a special case. (and alludes to the complicated relationship between all parties involved).
He elaborates by stating, “It was decided that given the genre of the game and the expected player population, a cross-platform format was appropriate. Furukawa goes on to put the nail in the coffin, noting, "that said, we don't have any plans for cross-platform [mobile] play for Nintendo titles." "
"Business as usual" is Nintendo's mantra, although things have changed a bit with the advent of gacha-powered mobile titles.
Summary of questions and answers [Nintendo]
