Pokemon Legends Arceus won't have ranked battles

Ranked battles will be absent from Pokemon Legends Arceus, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond, and Pokemon Shining Pearl.

The Pokemon Company revealed the new information during a Pokemon Presents livestream earlier today on August 18. Right at the very end of the showcase, once each respective game had had its time in the sun, the developer revealed that ranked battles would be entirely absent from Pokemon Legends Arceus, as well as the Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl remakes.

It's a bit of a strange move for The Pokemon Company to leave out ranked battles entirely from all three of their new games. Right now, it's unclear why the developer has made the decision to leave out the feature from the three games, but it's especially curious that The Pokemon Company would leave out ranked battles from all three games, and not just Arceus or the remakes.

If you're unfamiliar with the feature itself, ranked battles have featured in various mainline Pokemon games for multiple generations at this point. Simply put, the feature allows players to match up against set teams every month from around the globe, trying to net as many points as they can by taking on the opposing teams in exchange for various points and prizes.

In all though, it was a pretty blockbuster presentation from The Pokemon Company earlier today. Pokemon Legends Arceus closed the showcase with a brand new gameplay trailer, and it continues to look like a major departure for the historic franchise, as battles and exploration are both seeing some serious reworks and changes on top of a new open-world formula. 

Pokemon Legends Arceus launches next year on January 28, while Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl release slightly earlier on November 19, 2021.

The Pokemon Company also showed off some impressive Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl customisation footage earlier today.