Pokemon Lets Go needs a Nintendo Online subscription to trade and battle with other players

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It’s already been confirmed that Pokemon Let’s Go (opens in new tab) Pikachu and Eevee will let you trade and battle with other players, but it seems there’s a bit of a catch. It turns out you’ll need to pay for a Nintendo Online Service subscription in order to battle or trade online – either wirelessly or locally – with other trainers. 

The news comes via a statement from The Pokemon Company issued to Eurogamer (opens in new tab), which clarifies the online requirement and even gives us a few more details on exactly what the gameplay will be like when the pair of games arrive in November. Obviously, this isn’t the core RPG Pokemon Switch (opens in new tab) game we’ve been waiting for, so not all of the features will be made available in Pokemon Let’s Go, but it’s interesting to see just how different the games will be.

“Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Pokemon Let’s Go Eevee will have online play functionality,” reads the statement. “Battling and trading with other players over the internet or locally will be available in these games.”

“However, the feature set will be somewhat simplified in comparison to previous online games in that there is no GTS, Wonder Trade, or Battle Spot (Rating Battle, Free Battle, and Online Competition, etc.) for example. Further details will be revealed at a later date.”

“An active membership for the Nintendo Switch Online service, which is scheduled to begin in September of this year, will be required to access these features.”

The Nintendo Online service is £18/$20 a year, which is actually very reasonable compared to the likes of PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold. The service will allow you to play games online and access a library of NES titles, as well as actually back up your save games in the cloud at long, long last. It may well be an issue for younger gamers looking to get their Pokemon fix but face a paywall to play with their friends.

Are you going to subscribe to the Nintendo Online service or do you think it’s too expensive? Let us know in the comments below.