New Feature Incoming: GO Battle League
On October 21, 2019, Niantic officially announced support for an online matchmaking service for Pokemon GO!
Titled the GO Battle League, trainers will be required to walk around in order to earn entry into the league, where online Trainer Battles will take place!
These matches will be ranked and will allow trainers all over the world to gauge their skills against the best-of-the-best in Pokemon GO PvP!
The announcement doesn't give any full details and only mentions early 2020 as the release date. A Dev Insights video will also be released later with more details.
See below for the full announcement.
Full Announcement Text
Trainers,
Battling has been a core part of the Pokémon universe since the very beginning. We’re excited to announce the development of a feature that will build upon Trainer Battles, the current form of player vs. player battling that exists within Pokémon GO. This feature will be called GO Battle League.
Like many Pokémon GO features, GO Battle League will encourage players to get out and explore the world with Pokémon. Trainers will be able to walk in order to earn entry into the GO Battle League, then battle opponents from around the globe through an online matching system and rise in the ranks of the league. We hope this feature will make the Pokémon GO battling experience more competitive and accessible to more Trainers.
GO Battle League is slated for release in early 2020. We’ll be sharing more details in a special Dev Insights video soon. Stay tuned, Trainers!
—The Pokémon GO team
