Pokémon Go’s creator Niantic is updating the social game for a world locked down over COVID-19, and that includes completely redoing the way that Go Raid Battles work. The Raid Battles were a feature added to the game in 2017’s big Gym Rework. Now widely available, Raids have trainers in a local area meet up and work together to defeat especially powerful Pokémon called Raid Bosses for special rewards and more.
Pokémon Go’s initial attraction was Pokemon Go players at home.
Now The Pokeball shortage has also been fixed.
These at-home versions of social Pokémon Go events are just part of Niantic’s larger plans for dealing with COVID-19 while still encouraging exercise and play. These plans include updates to Adventure Sync to make it easier to measure indoor activities like cleaning or using a treill, as well as plans to “virtually” visit some of their favorite locations and share memories with others while waiting for society to get mobile again.
While gaming as a whole may be benefiting from the bans and at-home requirements during COVID-19, it’s been challenging on “real world” games such as Pokémon Go. Niantic’s swift solution is impressive under the circumstances and seems directly related to increases in revenue for March, although some details do remain unknown – players will have to wait to learn when exactly the Raid Battle changes will go into effect. But even if working around the house isn’t the same as scouring the neighborhood for Pokémon, it’s still impressive to see so many changes planned for the app, all designed specifically for this period of time.
Source: Niantic
