It’s been weeks since Niantic announced its changes to the Remote Raid Pass at the end of March 2023, and Pokémon Go players were not excited about the announcement. Many feel it was the wrong direction to go with these changes, punishing players who are unable to participate in any in-person events.
The community spent these past few weeks ushering multiple responses, heartfelt letters, boycotts, and oceans of social media posts in an attempt for the Niantic developers to hear them and respond. However, no response has come, and following the announcement of Niantic’s next big project, Monster Hunter Now, Pokémon Go fans are retreating away from the mobile game as they find less of a desire to play without regularly using Remote Raid Passes.
The Pokémon Go Community Mourns the Loss of a Global Community
As it becomes painfully obvious that Niantic will not address the Remote Raid Pass changes or the community reactions to their announcement, many players are slowly pulling away from the mobile game. Several users who are still playing it have already noted that it feels like a less vibrant game, and they likely don’t have as many people to conduct raids with.
The biggest appeal behind the Remote Raid Passes was to get anyone involved in a raid, regardless of their actual location in the world. It made it easier for Pokémon Go players to find a raid in their local area, send out a request for their friends to join, and then team up to take it down.
For many, Remote Raid Passes had become essential to playing Pokémon Go. Not everyone had the luxury of having a robust number of raids in their local area and an active community that played the game. Plus, some players may have disabilities that impact their ability to freely explore their local neighborhood.
As Niantic continues to work on Pokémon Go, many fans and players say they no longer recognize it and that the company has lost sight of what audience members enjoyed about the game.
The fanbase was looking for any type of response from Niantic, but instead, the developers chose to remain silent and continued to push weekly content as if nothing had happened. Players took notice of this, and the silence was likely the most painful response, given the repeated reassurances by Niantic that they would regularly speak with the community and would publish more Developer Thoughts.
This does not appear to be the case. It’s unlikely Niantic will comment on the Remote Raid Pass changes, and any changes they make moving forward may be met with a less interested community given this course of action.
