Sun & Moon series packs come to Pokémon TCG Live's in-game shop from August 10th - Charizard ex PTCGL code to be distributed during World's broadcast

The developers of the Pokémon Trading Card Game Live have shared information on several updates coming to the game over the coming week in a letter to the community posted to the official Pokémon TCG website. Alongside optimizations to improve the gameplay experience for mobile users, the game is also going to be improving its support for the Expanded format, starting with cards from the Sun & Moon series of expansions. A special digital distribution for a hyper rare Charizard ex card, to be held during the Pokémon World Championships, was also announced.

From sometime later this week, the mobile versions of the Pokémon TCG Live client for iOS and Android will be receiving a major visual update, replacing the current condensed card art with the full cards. The developers have stated that a future update will fully remove all of the assets for these condensed cards from the game, reducing the game's load and installation times for all players both on mobile and desktop. It's unclear at this stage what impact this updated visual experience will have on app performance during gameplay, particularly for those players using older devices, or if the condensed cart art will remain available as an option for players on such devices until it is eventually removed from the app.

Also coming later this week are the addition of booster packs and theme decks from Sun & Moon series expansions to the Pokémon TCG Live's in-game shop. Players will be able to obtain these packs from August 10th, using Crystals earned in-game. These products are just the first step in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Live expanding their support for the Expanded format, with the developers declaring they intend to bring the full Expanded format play experience to the game in the future.

Finally, the developer letter announced that several limited-time distributions for the Pokemon Trading Card Game Live will be held during the Twitch livestream of the Pokémon World Championships, which begins this Friday, starting with a code for a hyper rare Charizard ex card. Additional code distributions will also be made over the course of World's for digital booster packs from the upcoming Scarlet & Violet - Obsidian Flames expansion, amongst other items. Obsidian Flames will launch in the Pokémon TCG Live from August 10th together with the new Obsidian Flames Battle Pass, ahead of receiving its official physical launch on Friday August 11th.