Pokémon GO has announced new social features will be introduced to the game based on Niantic’s upcoming social app, changing in-game communication.
An announcement for Pokémon GO has revealed plans for new social features based on Niantic’s upcoming communications app, potentially changing how players interact. Pokémon GO has introduced a wide number of changes over the last few months in an attempt to follow a Pokémon GO 2022 roadmap announced early in the year. Niantic’s desire to get players back outside and engaging with Pokémon GO as a community has come at a cost, however, with many experiencing accessibility issues as pandemic adaptions have been removed or stripped down.
While some changes have been beneficial, like the recent overhaul to Pokémon GO‘s Mega Evolution mechanics, a majority have negatively impacted fans. This has included a Community Day duration cut that changes event timeframes from six-hour blocks to three hours, as well as alterations to the Incense item that reset spawn rates to pre-pandemic functionality. Additionally, high prices on items and event passes have created issues for many Pokémon GO fans, preventing quantities of players from fully accessing gameplay or enjoying game-important content.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear these issues will be improving after a recent update from PokémonGo announced changes to Pokémon GO‘s Remote Raid Passes alongside new social features. The new social features will be based on Niantic’s communication app that is currently being beta tested in certain areas, and will “make it easier for Trainers to communicate with each other, discover new communities, and enjoy local raid battles” according to the update. However, the blog post does not detail what these social features are, or how they will be used in the Pokémon GO application.
The communication app comes alongside news that Remote Raid Passes will no longer be included in the 1 PokéCoin Event Boxes, and that the price for a bundle of three will now be 300 PokéCoins instead of the previous 250. Additionally, Pokémon GO is implementing Mega Energy and Rare Candy XL rewards for local Raid Battle participation, further punishing players who rely on Remote Raid Passes to enjoy the majority of Pokémon GO‘s Raid Battles. While the new communication features could help players on a local or in-person basis, the decision to strip away accessibility options could cause many to step away from Pokémon GO in the near future.
The new communication features in Pokémon GO could also cause concern for parents of younger players once released. Any type of application that offers a chat feature can create risk for young gamers, but features that show real-world meet-up locations or broadcast the location of active players could be very dangerous. Because Niantic is pushing for community gameplay and in-person meetups, this could make younger players rely on unsafe features to enjoy the basic content of the game. Because of this, Pokémon GO will need to ensure that the new social features have appropriate safety measures, and consider keeping distance play accessible and affordable for those who need the option.
Source: PokémonGo
Laura Gray is a writer, illustrator and gamer in cozy Boise Idaho. They have had a wild freelance career in being a nerd, spending time traveling as a professional cosplayer and becoming a published illustrator while working the night grind as an IT tech. Laura is currently a content writer for D&D campaigns and Screenrant while working on personal writing projects for publication. They are also busy welcoming their first child into their life, which has been the best adventure life has given yet.
