Pokémon GO developer Niantic has responded to fan criticism over the changes made to remote raids in March while announcing a brand new feature called Shadow Raids.
Speaking to IGN, Pokémon GO producer John Funtanilla said Shadow Raids — a Team Rocket takeover of normal raids that let players catch Shadow Pokémon including Shadow Mewtwo — are a reinforced commitment of Niantic to get players outside similar to its changes to Remote Raids.
The developer announced in March that it would limit players to a maximum of five Remote Raids per day and also raise the price of Remote Raid Passes. The community criticised the decision for its impact on Pokémon GO’s accessibility and boycotted the store, resulting in the game falling out of the top ten mobile gaming spending charts for the first time since April 2022 according to Circana (previously NPD).
A tough decision.
This decision wasn’t easy for Niantic to make according to director of Pokémon GO live game Michael Steranka, who said the Remote Raid changes were made to stop players abusing the system and stepping away from the core message of going outside with friends.
“The changes that we made to Remote Raid Passes, this is an incredibly difficult decision to make and not one that we took lightly,” said Steranka. “Personally speaking, I would wager to say that I used to do more remote raids than 99% [IGN] readers, that’s something that was a deeply embedded in my daily gameplay in Pokémon GO.
“We did have to take action on that and we knew that it was going to be an incredibly unpopular [decision].”
“But ultimately, as the years sort of went on, what we noticed is that the sort of uncapped experience of Remote Raid Passes led to a really unhealthy play behaviour for a lot of our players in Pokémon GO. You would see players using dozens, sometimes hundreds of Remote Raid Passes in a single day. And that’s really not the experience we ever intended the game to be.
“So we did have to take action on that and we knew that it was going to be an incredibly unpopular [decision], and it’s a tough pill even for myself to swallow.”
Having unlimited access to Remote Raids in Pokémon GO would essentially let players spend money to grind Raids and obtain the best possible Pokémon. Especially after introducing player versus player battles, this would offer an unfair advantage to those with unlimited money without ever leaving their homes.
Responding with actions, not words.
Steranka added that Niantic didn’t respond to complaints caused by the changes until now when it had something to show. “We’re really hopeful that actions speak louder than words here,” he said.
“As players will see over the coming months, yes we are trying to pivot away from more of that remote playing experience, but that’s because we’re going to be introducing a lot of new and fun ways to engage with the game that we feel really confident that player’s going to enjoy.”
Funtanilla added that Niantic cares just as much about Pokémon GO as its players. “We’re a team of incredibly passionate players ourselves, and I think that’s something that sometimes may get lost in translation,” he said.
“We’re constantly playing the game when we’re off to maybe a company offsite, things like that. We’re battling each other, we’re trading, we’re a group of people that is very similar to our player base, and we’re really hoping that that shows with the new features that we put out.”
Shadow Raids.
Shadow Raids will be the first of these new features, and will initially run for one week from May 22 to May 29. Tier 1 to Tier 3 Pokémon will be available from Monday to Friday, while stronger Pokémon, headlined by Shadow Mewtwo (including its shiny form), will be available at the weekend.
Team Rocket members will also begin dropping Shadow Shards that can be converted to Purified Gems that can be used in battle. Tier 3 and Tier 5 Shadow Raid Pokémon will enter a special enraged form during battle that boosts their attack and defense, and players will need to throw Purified Gems at the Pokémon to subdue them and return them to normal.
“2023 is our most ambitious year yet when it comes to feature development and Shadow Raids are the tip of the iceberg.”
Niantic didn’t say exactly Shadow Raids would return after their debut week, but Steranka said they’ll definitely be a mainstay of the game moving forward. “Anytime we build a new feature in Pokémon GO, we typically don’t want them to be just sort of a one and done experience,” said Steranka. “You can expect Shadow Raids to get incorporated into your daily activities in the game after launch.”
As for what comes next Steranka couldn’t say much, but did promise that fans will hear more about them very soon. “In my opinion, 2023 is our most ambitious year yet when it comes to feature development and Shadow Raids are the tip of the iceberg there,” he said.
“We’re really excited to share with players over the coming months up until the end of the year a lot of really incredible new features that we’ve been building that are going to fundamentally change the gameplay in Pokémon GO in new and exciting ways.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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