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The 2016 Pokémon World Championships was the eighth annual e-Sport invite-only tournament held by Play! Pokémon, a branch of The Pokémon Company that unites the top Pokémon video game and Pokémon Trading Card Game players from around the world. The event was held at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis in San Francisco, California from August 19 to August 21.

For the first time in the tournament history, the Pokkén Tournament invitational was featured alongside the Video Game Championships (VGC) and Trading Card Game (TCG) tournaments. Side events and an official store with event merchandise occurred alongside the event.

The defending Video Game champions were Shoma Honami from Japan (Masters Division), Mark McQuillan from the United Kingdom (Senior Division) and Kotone Yasue from Japan (Junior Division). The defending Trading Card Game champions were Jacob Van Wagner from the United States (Masters Division), Patrick Martinez from the United States (Senior Division), and Rowan Stavenow from Canada.

Age divisions and qualifications
Both the Pokémon VGC and TCG were divided into three age divisions: the Junior Division (born 2005 or later), the Senior Division (born between 2001 and 2004), and the Masters Division (born 2000 or earlier). For the Pokkén Tournament invitational, players were grouped into either the Senior Division (born 2001 or later) or Masters Division (born 2000 or earlier).

The process of obtaining an invitation is primarily based on Championship Points. Players could earn Championship Points by performing in select online and live tournaments held throughout the 2016 season (between September 2015 and July 2016). Players from Japan and South Korea were excluded from this rule as these countries had their own method of qualification not based on Championship Points.

Play! Pokémon divided players into five different rating zones: US and Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and South Africa. Different zones had different Championship Points requirements due to the distribution of events around the world.

There are two possible invitations players could obtain:
 * a regular 'Day One' invite, and
 * a 'Day Two' invite, which allowed players to acquire a 'Day One' bye and automatically enter the second Swiss tournament.

'Day Two' invites were usually accompanied by travel awards and stipends paid by Play! Pokémon.

Trading Card Game Championship qualifications
The following table shows the Championship Points requirement for an invitation to the 2016 World Championships: Players in Japan and South Korea were awarded invitations based on each country's organized play system.

Video Game Championship qualifications
For the Masters Division, the following table lists the Championship Points requirement for an invitation to the 2016 World Championships:

Tournament structure
The Video Game Championships consisted of two Swiss tournaments and one single elimination tournament played across three days.

On Friday (Day 1), all players who earned an invitation without a Day 1 bye were entered into a Swiss tournament, where players with two or fewer losses would advance onto the next round. The second Swiss tournament was then played on Saturday (Day 2), where players who advanced from Day 1 were joined by players who received an invitation with a Day 1 bye.

At the end of the Day 2 Swiss tournament, players with two or fewer losses advanced to play in single elimination rounds until the last two remain. The finals took place on Sunday (Day 3).