Pokemon Sword and Shield won't support Pokemon Global Link for competitive play

(Image credit: Nintendo)

The Pokemon Company has confirmed Pokemon Sword and Shield will not use Pokemon Global Link, which has been a mainstay feature in the series for many years. Global Link is used for online multiplayer competitions, and also lets you track your battle rankings in competitive play. “For Pokemon Sword and Shield, services equivalent to the current Rating Battle and Online Competitions are planned to be supported,” the official post released at Gamescom 2019 states, “however, PGL will not support Pokemon Sword and Shield.”

Instead, battles and competitions will use Nintendo Switch’s connectivity features, meaning anyone who wants to get stuck into any kind of competitive play will need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Some of Global Link’s features such as rankings and event calendars are set to be implemented using the recently announced Pokemon Home, a new Cloud service for iOS and Android. The service is due to launch in early 2020, and is also supposed to act as a replacement for the Pokemon Bank system that allows you to store and transfer Pokemon across multiple Pokemon games.

Pokemon Global Link was first introduced into the series in Black and White, where you would use Dream Smoke to sync your game up to the online features. Pokemon Sword and Shield’s ranked mode Battle Stadium has a five-tier ranking system and will match you against other trainers of similar ranking. Official competitions will also be held that will all have their own specific regulations, but The Pokemon Company revealed that any players who do well in the competitions may even have the chance to take part in the World Championships.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.