Pokken Tournament Arcade Will End Online Services On March 25th

After three-and-a-half years, Pokken Tournament will be terminating online services for its original arcade machines on March 25th.

Those familiar with the WiiU and Switch version of Pokken may not know that it was originally released as a Japan-only arcade title in July 2015. Since then, the game has received a decent amount of attention in the form of updates and DLC, although it has never quite risen to the popularity of mainline Pokemon games.

The cancellation of online support for arcades mean that National Versus mode and the First-Time Tutorial Service will no longer be available. More unfortunate however will be the loss of Banapassport Card support and the online web portal. Previously these features could be used to access player profiles either via mobile or on PC. This would allow players to customize their trainer and Pokemon on the fly and upload the changes the next time they scanned their card. Although not critical to enjoying the game, it seems like a handy feature that will be missed by some Pokken arcade players.

Thankfully, players can still enjoy online matches if they own Pokken Tournament DX on Switch. That said, there is perhaps something special about playing a fighting game in an actual arcade, be it nostalgia or atmosphere, that could never truly be captured in any console port.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.