Niantic’s new social feature for Pokémon GO could finally improve the Raid battle participation. Niantic announced its Pokémon GO companion app Campfire just a few months ago, though details were limited. The new app will let players of Pokémon GO, as well as other Niantic titles, find and communicate with each other, organize social events, and schedule both in-game and real-world activities. The app has already been integrated with Niantic’s first AR game Ingress and is expected to come to all of the studio’s titles in the future.
Unfortunately, the number of games compatible with Niantic’s Campfire app has decreased, with the company recently announcing it has canceled four of its in-development projects, including the Transformers AR game. Thankfully, Niantic's new IP, Peridot, as well as its recently announced NBA All-World AR game are still on track, with the former set for release sometime later this year.
In a new blog post, Niantic revealed some of the ways the Campfire app will integrate with Pokémon GO and how players can take advantage of it. According to Niantic, some of the features of Campfire will be integrated directly into Pokémon GO's interface. One example details how players can see where others have lit "Flares", real-time markers that can be placed on the map, to draw others to the same location for cooperative gameplay. This allows those playing to see where they can potentially meet up with other trainers for Raids, such as July's Pokémon GO Legendary and Mega raids. Another feature will let players see pictures of Pokémon caught by other trainers to help them decide where to go if they’re searching for a specific species.
The Campfire app itself will also have a few features to make it easier for trainers to coordinate, such as allowing players to share raid locations with friends through direct messages or in group chats. Solo players will also be able to launch a Flare when they tap a Gym on the map, to help encourage other Trainers to come by. Unfortunately, despite the hype building around the new features, Niantic has yet to reveal when Campfire will be launching in Pokémon GO at this time.
The new social features may also be a good way to balance some of the controversies Pokémon GO has faced following recent widespread updates rolling back beneficial changes made during the Covid-19 pandemic. Hopefully, the Campfire app will be added to Pokémon GO before the end of the summer, allowing players to meet up with friends and join bigger groups more easily when out exploring.
Source: Niantic