Ever since Niantic changedPokemon Go’s Remote Raid Passesto be more expensive and limited to five per day, Pokemon Go fans have been in an uproar. Angry posts, petitions, andeven a player strikehave so far failed to sway Niantic’s course. And it doesn’t look like Niantic will ever change its mind.Speaking withDot Esports, game director Michael Steranka confirmed he’s definitely heard the outcry from angry players using the #HearUsNiantic hashtag, but while it was a “painful decision” to change the way remote raids work in Pokemon Go, he has “no plans to directly address any of the #HearUsNiantic things.“Related:Pokemon Go’s Master Ball Won’t Save The Game, But It’s A Start"That was like a very, very painful decision to make even for me,” admitted Steranka on the remote raid changes. “But when we look at sort of the overall health of the game, and the type of behaviors that remote raid passes were introducing, it just really didn’t align with the kind of experience we were trying to create. And I can honestly say like, even for me personally, it became sort of an unhealthy way to engage with the game, right? I would just sort of throw money at Poké Coins so that I can, you know, spam legendary raids as much as possible.”
While Steranka confirmed he’s “read everything” suggested by the #HearUsNiantic movement, including suggestions that in-person raids should be incentivized rather than remote raids punished, he said that a “huge slate of new features” coming this year will hopefully calm the Pokemon Go community.
“We have no plans to directly address any of the HearUsNiantic things recently, because we’ll be sticking with the decision that was made,” he said. “But instead, we’re hopeful that players will see a lot of the hard work that the team has been putting into this game for the past year because I think what we have coming out in 2023, is gonna really blow people away.”
Pokemon Go’s remote raid controversy may be more than just a war of words. According to community reports, Pokemon Go’s raid activityplummeted by over 50 percentfollowing the remote raid changes, with Pokemon Go’srevenue hitting a five-year low. Niantic denied these reports, saying thatincreased in-person raiding has made up the difference, although it declined to provide any data to back those claims.
It seems that Pokemon Go may have taken at least one suggestion from the #HearUsNiantic movement to incentivize rather than punish. Pokemon Go’snew Shadow Raids will only be accessible in person, with remote raiders locked out of the exciting new challenge to liberate gyms taken over by Team Rocket.
