Pokemon Unite gameplay emerges from closed beta

Pokemon Unite beta footage has surfaced online, thanks to the brawler recently entering public testing in Canada.

The closed beta footage for Pokemon Unite was first noted over the past few days by GoNintendo. You can find several new beta gameplay videos over on YouTube right now, showing various creatures like Pikachu, Charmander's entire evolutionary line, and many others battling it all out.

The chunks of beta gameplay also reveal that Pokemon Unite has a battle pass. One specific video shows the pass being purchased, and a special Summer-themed outfit for Pikachu being unlocked. It seems as though you can unlock multiple outfits for each Pokemon through levelling up the battle pass.

If you're unfamiliar with Pokemon Unite, it's a free-to-play 5v5 MOBA game, announced last year by Game Freak in June 2020. As of right now, the game is scheduled to launch for iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch platforms, but no firm release date or window has been nailed down as of right now. When it does launch though, it'll support cross-play between all three platforms.

Simply put, the game is a lane brawler, where you take your chosen monster and duke it out with enemy players, as well as smaller minions to gain XP and level up. Over the course of a single battle, you might find yourself evolving from Squirtle to Wartortle and eventually Blastoise, for example, accumulating XP to earn new abilities and batter your foes.

It's been a surprisingly busy few days for Pokemon. Just last week, Game Freak and Nintendo unveiled Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, remakes of the original Gen 4 games, set to release in late 2021 for Switch. The headline act of the recent Pokemon Direct was undoubtedly Pokemon Legends Arceus however, which is a full 3D spin-off game set in ancient Sinnoh, releasing in early 2022 for the Switch. The latter game in particular has folk talking, with plenty comparing it to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild based on early footage.

For our full guide to all the games coming to Nintendo's console at some point in the future, head over to our upcoming Switch games guide for more.