When Pokémon GO launched in 2016, it became an instant cultural phenomenon by bringing the popular Game Freak series to mobile devices, but while it's still massively popular (with millions of active players around the world in 2022), Pokémon GO has been embroiled in a string of controversies that have left some fans feeling soured on Niantic’s take on the Pokémon franchise.
Pokémon GO was a hit with the Pokémon community when it was first released, as many fans felt that it captured the magic of Red and Blue by allowing them to catch Pokémon in the real world. While Pokémon GO was initially released with few features, the game would eventually get updated with multiplayer features such as Raids and the Pokémon GO Battle League. These extra modes brought the mobile game closer to the complete experience offered in the mainline Pokémon RPG series.
However Pokémon GO began to receive criticisms from players for the first time when the game launched paid ticket events starting in 2019. The mobile game would continue to gain criticism throughout 2020 after various updates and decisions by Niantic left the Pokémon GO community increasingly frustrated. Here is a timeline of controversies in Pokémon GO that has some trainers walking away from the app in 2022.
Overpriced Pokémon GO Ticket Events (2019-2020)
The first paid ticket event in Pokémon GO was “A Colossal Discovery” in 2019, and was centered around the Diamond and Pearl Legendary Pokémon Regigigas. For $7.99, Pokémon GO players could encounter the Sinnoh Titan after completing Special Research. While some fans of the game were apprehensive about the cost at the time, most players were excited to add the popular Generation 4 Pokémon to their Pokédex.
Discontent began to grow around Pokémon GO paid tickets just a year later, when Niantic unveiled the “Tappity-Tap” event in December 2020. The winter celebration introduced Galarian Mr. Mime from 2019’s Sword and Shield into the game for $7.99. Many players were outraged that Niantic was now charging the same price as a Legendary for a common Pokémon. The event also drew criticism for locking a basic Galar Pokémon behind a paywall.
Considering the first ten paid events in Pokémon GO featured either Legendaries or were for massive celebrations like Pokémon GO Fest players started to feel that paid tickets had decreased in value while the prices stayed the same. Criticism over paid content grew even further in March 2021, with the Pokémon GO Fletchling Community Day pass. Although the ticket only cost $0.99, frustrated users claimed the ticket offered substantially worse items compared to previous Community Days.
Pokémon GO Boycott After Niantic Rolls Back Quality Of Life Features (2021)
Anger between players and Niantic boiled over in June 2021 and led to a Pokémon GO player boycott after the developer announced that they were making changes to several popular in-game bonuses. In 2020, Niantic implemented a handful of exploration bonuses to accommodate trainers playing at home due to worldwide lockdowns. These changes included a boost in Incense effectiveness, decreased cooldowns for exchanging gifts, and increased interaction distances for PokéStops and Gyms.
Although these bonuses were never promised to be permanent, many Pokémon GO players had gotten used to them and believed that they had become a massive quality of life changes that greatly improved the mobile title. The boosted PokéStop and Gym interaction distances, in particular, were praised by trainers who argued that it made the game safer for players as well as made the game more accessible for disabled players.
The Pokémon GO community was completely outraged then after Niantic revealed that they were removing every single exploration bonus despite players pleading with the developer for months to keep them. All of this culminated in players around the world organizing the "Pokémon NO Day" boycott with users refusing to log in to Pokémon GO for days until Niantic addressed their concerns. The campaign went viral on social media sites like Twitter and Reddit and grew so big that Niantic apologized to the community. As a response to the Pokémon GO player boycott, Niantic also created a task force to investigate player complaints.
Pokémon GO Seasons Of Alola Spoiled By Major Nerfs (2022)
After years of anticipation, Pokémon GO finally added Sun and Moon Pokémon into the game with the "Seasons of Alola" event in March 2022. On the very first day of the Gen 7 celebration, Niantic dropped the bombshell that they were nerfing Pokémon GO Incense items by a substantial amount. While on the surface the item's increased duration from 60 to 90 minutes seemed like a bonus, players quickly discovered that the Incense spawn rates had dramatically been nerfed from 1 Pokémon spawn every 90 seconds, to 1 Pokémon Spawn every 5 minutes.
The "Seasons of Alola" Pokémon GO Incense nerf was another major blow for some players, especially trainers still playing from home or in rural areas. Niantic's decision to nerf the Incense item kicked off another firestorm of backlash from Pokémon GO users who had become more and more frustrated with the developer's decisions. During the launch week of Seasons of Alola, the event went viral on social media for all the wrong reasons, as frustrated players voiced their criticisms about the mobile title for continuing to roll back and remove the quality of life features.
Only three weeks later, Pokémon GO's "Seasons of Alola" found itself embroiled in yet another controversy when Niantic announced that they were cutting Community Day's length down by 50% by reducing it from 6 hours to 3 hours. The move angered players who argued that Niantic's nerf of Incense items just weeks earlier, would make Community Day even more difficult with the reduced duration. Others claimed that the new Community Day format would cut out players who don't get off work until the afternoon.
Legendary Mega Raids In Pokémon GO Ruined By Difficulty (2022)
Two years after it was introduced in the game, Pokémon GO's Mega Evolution mechanic was overhauled with a massive update in April 2022. The mobile game followed up the improved feature with the 'A Mega Moment' event and the introduction of 6-Star Pokémon GO Legendary Raids featuring Mega Latios and Mega Latias in May. While the new Mega Evolution system was a hit with fans, the major update came to a screeching halt when many players became critical of the new 6-Star Legendary Raids.
The new Pokémon GO Legendary raids aren't just hard, but they are substantially more difficult than anything ever released in the game before. Even when players manage to secure a full team ready to take on the Mega Legendary Raid bosses, many users quickly discovered that their teams were being wiped out unless someone on their team had a Mega Legendary themselves. Compounding the problem is the fact that the Mega Legendary Raids don't actually give out increased rewards despite the battle's increased difficulty levels. All of this has resulted in some players being completely wiped out of their healing resources, and unable to revive their fallen Pokémon.
Many users began to criticize Niantic for the Pokémon GO Legendary Mega Raid's difficulty fresh off the heels of cutting features that would have helped them gather items and Pokémon. Going back to 2021, Niantic has continuously tried to roll the game back to the setting from when the game launched years ago, while players seemed to be moving in a different direction. Each controversy regardless of how small they are in a vacuum has started to compound, leaving some players feeling disillusioned with the mobile title. Only time will tell whether the Pokémon GO Community and Niantic can get on the same page, but for some users, the numerous controversies are starting to become too much.