

On this day, players got a proper response from Niantic regarding the negative reaction toward the changes. This boycott took place on August 5th, 2021, and was named ' Pokemon NO Day' by the community. In response to the most recent bonus rollbacks, a number of Pokemon GO players organized an official date to boycott the game. Complaints from players regarding these changes died down not long after, but they rose up again after the August 2021 bonus removals previously stated.

This change additionally made it so that Incense would only have an increased effect while players are walking, Buddy Pokemon only giving players gifts if they are low on them, Buddy Pokemon only giving one gift a day, not making gifts guaranteed by spinning PokeStops, and bundling incubators with more purchasable boxes in the store. With it being impossible to guarantee what specific Pokemon will come out of an egg, many were glad to not have to walk as much in order to see if they got their desired Pokemon. Of the bonuses to disappear, the one most players took issue with was eggs going back to their original walking distance from before the pandemic. Not all of the bonuses were stated to disappear, just a few specific ones. The start of Autumn 2020 came with the announcement from Niantic that some of the bonuses added for the COVID-19 pandemic will begin to be rolled back.

In October 2020 however, these well-loved additions started to get removed. In response to these bonuses, Pokemon GO received an award from Apple during the 2020 App Store Awards in December 2020. Many new players even ended up joining the Pokemon GO player base with these bonuses being just a normal part of the game again. Overall, the majority of players loved these additions. To make item collecting easier, it became possible to carry up to 20 Gifts, open up to 30 Gifts per day, get 3x the normal amount of Stardust and XP from the first Pokemon catch of the day, giving out more Pokeballs in open gifts, and increasing the range of access for PokeStops and Gyms. Players additionally gained the ability to challenge any player remotely with a QR code. Some of these completely changed how certain mechanics worked, such as the removal of the walking requirement for the GO Battle League and lowering the requirement to remotely battle friends. Players were also able to get more Gifts from PokeStops and encounter more Pokemon in the overworld without the use of items.Īs the pandemic went on, more bonuses and features were added to the list.
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This was to make sure players could experience the newly extended Incense time to a full hour. Eggs additionally took half as many steps to hatch if they were placed in an incubator after the start date. The initial rollout of these perks included a one-time purchase bundle in the in-game store containing 30 Incense. Starting on March 12th, 2020, Pokemon GO players were able to benefit from the newly added pandemic bonuses available in the game. Pokemon GO's Pandemic Features and Bonuses The official response to this from Niantic has upset players even more, making it unclear when this boycott will end. Many considered the interaction distance increase to be a great quality of life change that the game now lacks. In response to the distance increase being removed from the game, many players have begun a boycott against Pokemon GO and other games created by Niantic. RELATED: Niantic Founder Warns Against Pursuing A Real Life Metaverse These features, however, are now being rolled back, despite the global pandemic being likely far from over. Some of these include increasing the interaction distances for PokeStops and Gyms, the number of gifts that can be sent to friends, and the use time of Incense.

Overall, the majority of Pokemon GO players enjoyed the added features and bonuses. Many players even returned to the game, helped by special features implemented in order to make playing much easier in quarantine without leaving home. Even with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the player base for Pokemon GO remained as strong as ever.
