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How to play Pokémon Unite on PC

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Pokémon Unite's key art.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Pokémon Unite is the unexpected blending of one of the biggest IPs in gaming with one of the most popular genres. This MOBA-inspired take on the dueling franchise manages to simplify the usually complex mechanics of the genre into a faster, far more approachable game that can more easily appeal to fans of the core franchise. Plus, the fact that it's free to play, with microtransactions of course, means that just about anyone can jump in to give this game a shot.

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Difficulty

Moderate

Duration

30 minutes

What You Need

  • Pokémon Unite

  • PC or laptop

  • BlueStacks

  • Google account

The downside, though, is that Pokémon Unite isn't available on the platform that MOBAs were born on, and has the most thriving population: PC. The game only launched for the Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android devices, leaving a huge chunk of potential players unwilling to abandon their preferred mouse-and-keyboard control scheme for touch controls or even using a gamepad. If you fall into that category, fear not, because there is a way you can get around this platform exclusivity and play this hit MOBA at on your PC or laptop. Here's how to play Pokémon Unite on your PC.

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An arrow points to a BlueStacks installer icon on a PC desktop.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to play Pokémon Unite on PC

Since there is no official version of Pokémon Unite on PC to play, the only way to do so is to use a workaround. In this case, the only reliable option is to use a program called BlueStacks on your PC. There is also a Nintendo Switch emulator out there called Yuzu, but it is still in the works and not stable as of yet. BlueStacks, on the other hand, is an Android emulator that has proven to be a very stable and reliable emulator. Best of all, it is free and easy to use. All you need is a Google account.

Here's a full step-by-step guide to get started.

Step 1: Download BlueStacks. Simply follow the link provided here to download BlueStacks onto your PC.

Step 2: Sign in to your Google account and go to the Play Store.

Step 3: Use the search function to find Pokémon Unite.

Step 4: Find the game and begin installing it.

Step 5: Once finished, just click on the Pokémon Unite icon on your home screen and the game will boot up.

Greedent attacking in Pokémon Unite.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to improve performance of Pokémon Unite on PC

MOBAs, even ones designed for touch and controllers, just feel better being played on a keyboard and mouse. Aside from just adding that control scheme option, BlueStacks adds even more advantages to playing on other platforms.

Some emulators can introduce some performance issues. For competitive games, especially MOBAs like Pokémon Unite, any hitch or extra bit of lag can seriously influence the outcome of a fight, or even the entire match. Thankfully BlueStacks lets you put all that extra power your PC has over a Switch or mobile device to run Pokémon Unite on par or better than those versions. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: Open the BlueStacks settings menu and go into Performance.

Step 2: Set the CPU allocation to four cores, memory allocation to 4GB, performance mode to High Performance, and adjust the frame rate slider on the bottom to 60 or higher.

Step 3: Launch Pokémon Unite and select your avatar to go into the game settings.

Step 4: Set the Pokémon Unite settings to the highest levels on all options, specifically Graphics Quality and Frame Rate.

Decidueye attacking in Pokemon Unite.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

How to map controls in Pokémon Unite

Keyboard and mouse support is great alone, but we all have different preferences for what control layouts are most comfortable. Again, BlueStacks delivers by letting you fully remap your buttons in Pokémon Unite. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: Use the BlueStacks key-mapping tool by pressing the shortcut of Ctrl + Shift + A while running Pokémon Unite.

Step 2: You will now see the default control layout. To change an input, simply select it and press the key you wish to replace it with.

Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jesse Lennox covers all things gaming but has a specific interest in all things PlayStation, JRPGs, and experimental indies…
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