Following the announcement of the second World Championships for Pokkén Tournament earlier this month, players have been desperately awaiting more details on the actual circuit surrounding the event. Well, the Pokémon Company are now starting to release information on this year’s World Championships, detailing the overall prize pot, alongside the version that the Championships will be using.
First off, players will all be competing on the Wii U version of Pokkén, as opposed to the arcade version of the game. Unless the Pokémon Company finally decides to push the DLC fighters–which are currently only available on the arcade version–to console, we won’t be seeing Darkai, Empoleon, Croagunk or Scizor going for the Worlds title in August. This may deepen the disconnect between Western and Japanese players–who may have to literally play on an older version of Pokkén, unless the Wii U version is actually updated to be in line with the arcade edition ahead of the Championships.
Besides the mention of a Last Chance Qualifier on the Friday before the World Championships, The Pokémon Company did not state how players can actually qualify for the Pokkén World Championships, outside of this final qualifier. One would assume that players can win spots by competing at regional Championships, like the North American International Championships in Indiana, but it has not been explicitly mentioned by The Pokémon Company. They could follow the example set by Bandai Namco with the numerous King of the Iron Fist qualifiers at events like Wizard World, but nothing is confirmed as of yet.
The Pokkén World Championships will unfold on August 19th, with Pokémon trainers battling for a share of $20,000. Unless The Pokémon Company chooses to update the Wii U version of Pokkén to finally be on par with the arcade version–complete with additional fighters and balance updates–fans will probably have to wait until the conclusion of this tournament for any news of a comprehensive version of Pokkén for the Nintendo Switch–if at all.
Source: The Pokémon Company