With Virtually No New Covid Cases, Play! Pokemon Events Return to Australia and New Zealand!

TPCi has announced in-person events can now resume in Australia and New Zealand!

As of yesterday, Australia only has 69 active COVID-19 cases. Just six new infections were reported yesterday.

Conversely, the United States saw over 56,000 new infections yesterday and has experienced 29 million total cases. Australia has only experienced 29,000 total infections, meaning our daily rate is double their total count! (Our population is 13x larger, but still…)

Australian organizers also received an e-mail from TPCi instructing them to follow all local COVID-19 ordinances and laws. Organizers must fully document how they are complying with these laws and provide proof to TPCi. Failure to do so will result in loss of eligibility to hold events.

Pokémon Trading Card Game players in Australia and New Zealand should prepare themselves as Play! Pokémon events will be returning on March 1, 2021. You’ll once again be able to visit stores hosting Play! Pokémon events to participate in Pokémon League and Prerelease tournaments against other players. For questions or concerns regarding events at participating stores, please see the Play! Pokémon COVID-19 requirements.

The brand-new Event Locator is now available to help players discover events. Currently, the Event Locator will only show events for Australia and New Zealand.

In-person events in other areas remain suspended, but conditions will be consistently reviewed for future re-openings. In the meantime, Players Cup, Team Challenge, and League at Home continue to be available to eligible players in all participating countries.

In more Play! Pokémon news, the new Pokémon Event Manager (PEM) has launched and will help Professors and Tournament Organizers create and track Play! Pokémon events. The initial version of the new PEM is available only in English. Event organizers in countries outside Australia and New Zealand can continue to test PEM, but please note that Team Challenge tournaments will continue to run with Tournament Operations Manager (TOM) software.

Continue to visit the Play! Pokémon Events website for the latest updates.