Niantic has confirmed that Exploration Bonuses are being changed in Pokemon Go. This guide will show players which changes are being added and which ones are being removed. Exploration Bonuses are an incentive to get players to get up and go outside to play the game. A big part of the identity of the game is exploring the outside world and discovering new locations while capturing Pokemon. It's been about 15 months since Niantic introduced some massive changes to the game to make it playable at home to counter COVID-19. As the world continues to slowly make its way back to normal, some of these old changes are being removed but replaced with some new ones. This guide will show players every Exploration Bonus that is being added to the game and which ones are being removed.
Even with COVID-19, Pokemon Go was able to be more profitable than ever before, even beating out when the game was a global phenomenon back in 2016. This is due to the game adding more chances for players to spend money on items like increased Incenses and longer Lure Modules. Now, Niantic is rolling back some of its bonuses to push players to go back outside. While the situation with COVID-19 is different in a variety of regions around the world, the game is ready to go back to its outside business model. Here are all the Exploration Bonuses that are being removed and added.
Every Exploration Bonus Added (& Removed) in Pokemon Go
Here are the new Exploration Bonuses that are being added to the game. This will begin to take place at the end of July.
- Receive 2 free raid passes for spinning at Gyms.
- Increased Incense effectiveness while moving.
- Players will be guaranteed to get a gift for spinning a PokeStop if they have space in their inventory.
- Players will be given x10 the XP for spinning new PokeStops.
Here are the Exploration Bonuses that will be removed from the game to push players outdoors. These won't roll out until after Go Fest in July.
- Incense will not work as well when the player is stationary.
- Buddy Pokemon won't find gifts as often.
- The distance between the player and PokeStops/Gyms will return back to normal, meaning no extended distance.
Some of these changes are understandable but it's a bit strange for the game to return the interaction distance between gyms and PokeStops. Certain places in the world are still heavily focused on social distancing and this directly goes against that. Regardless, these changes are coming and they are here to stay.
Pokemon Go is available now on iOS and Android.