North American scholastic and collegiate esports company PlayVS announced a new partnership with The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) to add the popular game Pokémon UNITE to its free competitive leagues for middle and high school students for the U.S. and Canada, beginning with the new Fall scholastic season.
Under the terms of this new partnership, PlayVS will be able to offer the popular free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game for mobile devices and the Nintendo Switch to students participating in its competitive programs.
“Bringing Pokémon UNITE into the classroom through structured competition is a meaningful step forward for PlayVS and scholastic esports as a whole,” said Jon Chapman, CEO of PlayVS. “Pokémon has inspired generations of players, and we’re proud to help students connect with the franchise in a new and competitive way.”
Through its scholastic programs, PlayVS currently offers high school and middle school students in the United States and Canada competitive play in several titles including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, League of Legends, Rocket League, NBA 2K25, Madden NFL 25, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Chess, Hearthstone, Street Fighter 6, EA Sports College Football 25, Splatoon 3, and now Pokémon UNITE.
Earlier this month PlayVS announced the launch of a new league aimed at collegiate esports called PlayVS College League (PCL). This followed the company acquiring PlayFly Esports and Generation Esports back in April; Generation Esports was the owner of scholastic esports leagues High School Esports League (HSEL) and Middle School Esports League (MSEL), while Playfly Esports was the collegiate esports arm of collegiate sports company Playfly.