Pokémon Global Link Service Closing In February

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This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

The Pokémon Company has announced that its Global Link service that’s currently employed by Pokémon Sun and Moon (as well as their Ultra counterparts) will be closing down on 24 February next year.

All gameplay features that require the service within the gen 7 games will no longer be available, though other online functionality will still be switched on for the time being. Here’s the statement from the official Global Link site:

“After more than nine years of operation, the Pokémon Global Link (PGL) service will be retired on February 24, 2020, at 23:59 UTC. After PGL service has ended, you will no longer be able to use any gameplay features that require a connection to the PGL on your Pokémon Ultra Sun, Pokémon Ultra Moon, Pokémon Sun, or Pokémon Moon games. You will still be able to use other online functionality apart from the PGL.

Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield will provide services similar to the PGL’s Rating Battles and Online Competitions features and will be available to play via Nintendo Switch.

Thank you for using the PGL, and we hope you will continue to enjoy using the PGL until the service ends.”

The Pokémon Company had previously stated that the service wouldn’t be supported by Sword and Shield, with much of the funtionality offered by the service either baked into the games themselves via Nintendo Switch Online, or migrating across to the upcoming Pokémon Home service.

That service is expected in ‘early 2020’, so we could well see the launch of Pokémon Home sometime around the closure of Pokémon Global Link.

As a parting gift, players can receive a special Munna by logging into the system between now and the time it closes.