Pokemon TCG Pocket is changing how often new cards arrive. In a letter shared yesterday (October 15th), the game's Operations Team announced that booster packs will move from a cycle of about four weeks to a cycle of roughly six weeks when the new C Series begins at the end of this month. The letter also lays out new ways to earn immersive cards, a Special Pack built around starter Pokemon, a Community Decks feature, unlimited rental decks, and updates to trading.
Check out the announcement from the official Pokemon TCG Pocket account below:
Why Booster Packs Are Slowing Down
The team said it has received feedback that the large number of cards released in each pack, up through the B Series, has made collecting difficult. The roughly six-week cycle is meant to let more players build their collections at their own pace. To fill the extra time between packs, the team is expanding events and missions around both collecting and battling.
The change comes as the game approaches its second anniversary on October 30th. DeNA, which co-develops the game with Creatures Inc., named Pokemon TCG Pocket as the main reason its game business revenue fell 33.2% year over year in its April to June quarter. Average monthly active users for the game dropped from 39 million a year earlier to 23 million, and DeNA said it would run events and promotions to improve login frequency and player retention. Even with that drop, 23 million monthly players is still a huge number for a mobile card game.
Immersive Cards, First Partners, And New Promos
Until now, the only way to get immersive cards has been to pull them from booster packs, which made them some of the most sought-after cards in the game. Starting with the new series, immersive cards will still show up in packs, but missions will also reward players with different immersive cards for completing collections.
Special Pack: First Partners is also on the way. It will contain special cards of the first partner Pokemon from each of the nine regions the main series games have been set in so far. Special Packs are separate from normal booster packs and are opened with special pack stamina, which recovers once a week.
The team is also adding event missions that hand out 1-Star promo cards with distinctive illustrations that share a unified theme. New missions will be added each week for three weeks, and completing each set earns one of the three illustrated promo cards.
The official account also shared a visual overview of the events being changed or added starting with the C Series:
Changes To Battling
A new Community Decks feature will let players browse decks made by other players in-game, such as popular decks or decks their friends are using, and then copy them with their own cards. It builds on the theme deck lists and 2D pattern codes that are already in the game, and the team is recommending it to both current players and anyone who has just started battling.
Rental decks are getting a big upgrade too. The team said players had complained about how rental decks are obtained, how many times they can be used, and how hard it is to choose from so many of them. Beginning with the new series, rental decks will be available as soon as a new booster pack releases, they can be used an unlimited number of times, and they will also work in versus battles.
Limited Battle Events are also being added. These will be held a set period after each booster pack's release, with rules that limit which cards are eligible. Players can earn battle accessories, promo packs, and more based on their number of wins.
Easier Trading And What Comes Next
Trading and sharing are getting quality of life updates as well. Planned additions include a way to check cards of any rarity that are missing from your trade partner's card dex while trading, along with a feature that identifies cards on your share partner's wishlist. The team said it will keep making similar improvements to other features.
The C Series will also bring dual-type Pokemon to the game for the first time. The Pokemon Company announced at PokemonXP in August that dual-type cards would start with Mega Mewtwo X ex, a Psychic and Fighting-type card, and that players would be able to collect first partner Pokemon as ex cards, starting with cards like Piplup ex and Fuecoco ex. The team noted that everything in the letter is still in development, so the contents and timing of the update could change.
Are you happy to have more time to finish each set, or would you rather keep getting new booster packs every four weeks?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.