Pokémon GO – the changes will come as part of a new spring update (pic: Niantic)



Fans are upset about Pokémon Go’s upcoming changes to remote raids, which include raising the price of a remote raid pass.



Considering the whole point of Pokémon Go is to regularly go outside to catch pokémon, changes had to be made to accommodate the global lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic .



One new addition was remote raid passes, which allow you to participate in raids against special boss pokémon without needing to be in a specific area. You can even attempt them in other countries, so long as you receive an invite from another player.



However, developer Niantic has decided that the feature has grown too popular and in an upcoming update will not only limit how many remote raids you can take part in per day but also make the remote raid passes more expensive to buy.



As of April 6, a single remote raid pass will go up from 100 PokéCoins to 195, while a three-pack will go up from 300 coins to 525. While PokéCoins can be earned in-game, they’re also available to purchase with real money.



That means the price for a single pass will increase from roughly 79p to £1.54 – which is a lot if you’d doing multiple raids a day.



Remote raid passes will be available as potential rewards for research breakthrough events, but even if you accrue a bunch of them, you’ll only be allowed to take part in five remote raids a day.



Niantic’s blog post explains that remote raids have come to ‘dominate the experience of playing Pokémon Gi in a way we never intended’ and that the changes are ‘necessary for the long-term health of the game.’





Niantic really doesn’t realise that not everyone lives in a very populated city with a thriving pokemon go playerbase. Remote raid passes might “op” but they also are the only tool people that live in more rural areas have to engage with the raid mechanic they love so much… https://t.co/hwHJXZwRtE — StBlessedBretzel (@StBretzel) March 30, 2023






It breaks my heart to see people giving up on PoGo over this remote raid pass debacle. These passes enhanced the game for me, encouraged me to join/build online communities, and host in-person raids. This game truly shines in an online/global capacity. 😥 #PokémonGO #Niantic — SweetPoison13 (@Sweet13Poison) March 31, 2023





Not even capping when I say this, the remote raid pass price increase could genuinely be the death of Pokémon GO. — PoGOCentral (@pogo_central) March 30, 2023




In an interview with Polygon , Pokémon Go vice president Ed Wu goes into further detail, calling remote raids a ‘shortcut,’ adding, ‘The current price of remote raid passes is distorting that economy and it’s frankly making the game unsustainable in the long term.



‘I want to emphasise that this is not about short-term revenue. And I think the cap goes to that point, right? This is really about making the game sustainable for years [and] decades to come and continuing to get folks outside and explore the world together, which is the core value that we really believe that Pokémon Go brings to folks’ lives.



When asked what the team is doing to incentivise players for not relying so much on remote raids, Wu brings up how the update will also increase how much candy (a resource used for levelling up pokémon) players earn from five star raids.



‘Part of the change is actually increasing the amount of XL Candy at our five star raids, so that trainers right now who feel the need to do many, many remote raids in order to level up one of their pokémon [still get rewarded],’ he says.



‘We’re making this change of increasing the amount of XL Candy to provide a balance, I wouldn’t necessarily say an incentive, but a balance that actually is consistent with our values.’



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While this sounds like an unpopular idea on paper, the community has been surprisingly receptive to the changes… Just kidding, they’re livid and have not held back on their contempt for Niantic’s plans.



Aside from the price hike and daily cap, some players believe the remote raids are beneficial for disabled players who can’t leave their homes. Thus the update will directly harm their ability to play Pokémon Go.




The nerf of remote raid passes in Pokemon GO had been looming over us for a while now. Not so much an “if” but a “when”. I agree it’s upsetting that it’ll adversely affect both differently abled trainers as well as the global community many of us have worked so hard to build. — jennEHbee (@jennEHbeee) March 31, 2023





Pokemon Go nerfing remote raid passes is a VERY bad move in my opinion, I dont go out to raid anymore due to mental health reasons and also wouldn’t DREAM of running into people who I used to play with, I remote raid only, but to limit that to 5 per day… — Peter Panikan Skywalker (@BarryAdair10) March 31, 2023




The last time Niantic announced it would undo changes it made during the pandemic, the backlash was so severe that it cancelled those plans .



With this remote raid update taking place in less than a week’s time, though, and with the game’s economy to consider, fans may have no choice but to put up with the changes.




One of the most beautiful things is when the Pokémon GO community comes together in a united effort to try and stop Niantic from making a huge mistake. Increasing the remote raid pass cost is a horrible decision and I’m honestly hoping it’s just an early April Fools day joke,… pic.twitter.com/ctI0YQVMIk — DAVO OLSON (@davoolson) March 31, 2023




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