Walking around with friends, staying up past midnight, spinning PokeStops— that was what took up a majority of time for people when Pokemon Go first released in the summer of 2016. It quickly blew up as everyone was fascinated by the idea of catching Pokemon in the real world. However, the game fell off as quickly as it became popular. Now that four years have passed and a worldwide pandemic has settled in, let’s see how Pokemon Go has changed.

Although it is nowhere as popular as it was four years ago, Pokemon Go still has a large dedicated player base. Newsweek shows that Pokemon Go has already made $1 billion in the first ten months of 2020. This is a 10% increase from the $902 million Niantic made in 2019. This is most likely due to the changes Niantic has made to the game which has kept players invested in it for so long.

The biggest change that kept the game so stable is most likely the addition of raid bosses. Players are able to form a group with other trainers to defeat a powerful raid boss in hopes of catching the rare Pokemon. To participate in these battles, players must use something called a raid pass. Niantic offers players one free raid pass a day, but players are able to buy more passes for the in-game currency which costs real-life money. This is an easy way for Niantic to make money, as most players will definitely fight a boss more than once.

The incentive of fighting a raid boss multiple times is due to the hidden stats in Pokemon Go: individual values. Every Pokemon has a set individual value, and players will do multiple raids, hoping to get a perfect individual value Pokemon. Another incentive of fighting a boss is for the opportunity to get its shiny variant. Shiny Pokemon have always been desired in all Pokemon games, and Pokemon Go is no exception. Since the odds of getting a shiny Pokemon are around 1 in 20, most players will have to fight the boss multiple times in order to get one shiny. 

Since a majority of the world is under quarantine, Niantic has introduced some major updates so that players are able to enjoy the game from the comfort of their own home. First of all, players previously had to travel to gyms in order to participate in raids but now are able to do so from home with the addition of the remote raid pass. Currently, Niantic offers a free remote raid pass every Monday, so players will be able to participate in at least one raid from home every week. 

“Even though I can’t go out like I used to, I still get the opportunity to enjoy the raiding experience from my own home,” said senior Nathan Wang.

Overall, if Niantic continues to keep consistent updates with regards to the pandemic, players will continue to enjoy the game. Pokemon Go is not dead and is actually continuing to grow, as new and returning players all experience the thrill of catching Pokemon once again.

Graphic courtesy of BBC.CO.UK