What is Pokemon Uranio and can I download it?

Pokemon fans are known for their passion for the franchise and publications like Pokemon Uranium prove it. Released in 2016, it doesn't fit into the major versions of the series, as its production history was a very different story. Along the lines of Pokemon Orange Version, it's a labor of love, produced by fans to pay homage to the franchise. We have all the details on its history and availability here.

What is Pokemon Uranium? Can I download it?

If you are an avid Pokemon fan and haven't heard of Pokemon Uranium, fear not. You didn't miss the latest big release. Instead, it's a fan created game that came out in 2016, developed by someone called "~ JV ~".

Designed as a tribute to early Pokemon games like Red and Blue, it introduced over 160 completely new and fan-designed Pokemon, who live in the Tandor region. Development on uranium took nine years. However, when it was finally ready for release, Nintendo's legal team stepped in.

The game launched in August 2016, but less than a month later, Nintendo hit it with several DMCA takedown notices. The developers reluctantly shelved the game and wrapped up official development, but that wasn't the end for Pokemon Uranium. A vibrant community of fans has resurrected the game, created a fansite to host downloads and keep updating it now. Community is at the heart of Uranium, as it includes online combat and trading mechanics to connect with other players.

Despite its good intentions of supporting the franchise's pixelated roots, it should be pointed out that there is no official way to play due to its fan-created nature. This means you can't just buy a uranium cartridge or find it in the Switch store. Instead, it is available by unofficial means, which we cannot enter here. As always, be careful when downloading games from unofficial sources, as it's hard to know what to trust.