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GO Battle League PvP coming to Pokemon GO in 2020

Trainer battles are about to hit the next level, as Pokemon GO prepares to launch the GO Battle League next year.

Ozzie Mejia

October 21, 2019 1:25 PM

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Catching Pokemon on your mobile device is fun and all. You can tap your Pokemon and watch as they roar. But there's a core element of Pokemon that some might argue has been missing from Pokemon GO: the one-on-one trainer battles. Niantic Labs has slowly implemented this idea into its mobile phenomenon, but there are trainers who still wish to try and be the very best, like no one ever was. For those trainers, that time is almost here. On Monday, Niantic Labs announced that it will soon implement a new PvP feature called GO Battle League.

"Like many Pokémon GO features, GO Battle League will encourage players to get out and explore the world with Pokémon," reads the announcement on the Pokemon GO website. "Trainers will be able to walk in order to earn entry into the GO Battle League, then battle opponents from around the globe through an online matching system and rise in the ranks of the league. We hope this feature will make the Pokémon GO battling experience more competitive and accessible to more Trainers."

Pokemon GO was first released back in the summer of 2016, but PvP Pokemon trainer battles were only added back in December 2018. Even then, the concept has been fairly limited, with trainers only able to engage in battle when they're in close proximity to one another. The GO Battle League looks to go a step farther and allow for trainer battles from anywhere, so long as players meet the requirements to jump in. Specifics on what those requirements will be remains to be seen.

Niantic is promising more information on GO Battle League in the months ahead in the form of a special developer video. While there isn't an exact release date for this new feature, look for the GO Battle League to come to Pokemon GO in early 2020.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?