Pokemon Go players slam Niantic for “killing the game” with Remote Raids nerf
Pokemon Go players aren’t happy with the upcoming nerf to Remote Raid Passes and many are already threatening with uninstalling the mobile game entirely if Niantic doesn’t back up.
Pokemon Go players decided to take action after Niantic announced big changes to Remote Raids. The developer of the extremely popular AR game officially announced they’ll nerf Remote Raid Passes. This will limit activity to players all around the world and will finally suppress most of the in-game changes that came during the Pandemic.
Different leaks anticipated these Remote Raid Pass changes before the official announcement, and players’ reactions clearly showed huge disappointment in the community. Now that those changes are coming to Pokemon Go on April 6, 2023, it seems like a boycott is imminent.
Pokemon Go players slam Niantic for Remote Raid Pass nerf
Many Pokemon Go players responded to Niantic’s tweet about these new changes, expressing anger and disappointment. YouTuber MYSTIC7 tagged the official Guinness World Records account and called this the “worst decision in gaming”.
Other personalities, like Serebii’s Joe Merrick, YouTuber Tyler Oakley, and 100Thieves’ NiceWigg, also questioned Niantic’s decision and are asking developers to reconsider. Streamer DansGaming tweeted: “Well you just killed the game for a lot of people, this is a terrible change that’s not going to achieve what you wanted.”
Browsing any Pokemon subreddit, users can find many different threads full of discouraged players. While many are planning to leave Pokemon Go since they can’t really play it without Remote Raid Passes, others are planning a boycott to let Niantic know they aren’t happy with these changes.
“Niantic developers have clearly never lived in rural America. Company has very rarely shown interest in listening to players’ needs or concerns. Great to meet up with community of players, but not possible for everyone,” stated fansite PokéJungle.
Many players decided they’ll take action once the Remote Raid Passes are active in the in-game shop. Some are planning to uninstall the game entirely, while others are encouraging players to stop spending money in Pokemon Go.
Others also believe deactivating the Adventure Sync feature, which tracks players’ location when the app is closed, will also help players make a statement against the Remote Raid Pass nerf.
“Remote Raid Passes have come to dominate the experience of playing Pokémon GO in a way we never intended”, stated Niantic in the official announcement. Changes coming April 6 have the goal of bringing more people together for in-person activities, but there isn’t much content to enjoy in that regard, according to many users.
Many players think that Niantic should have boosted in-person Raids with better rewards instead of nerfing Remote Raids that will affect a wider portion of the user base. Then again, the last in-person-only event in Pokemon Go was the Redigrago Elite Raid event which didn’t work for most players.
Niantic hasn’t replied to players’ concerns since the official announcement, so Pokemon Go’s future is uncertain at this point. We’ll have to wait until April 6 to see how the situation unfolds.
If you’re looking for more Pokemon content, make sure to check if Shadow Raids are coming to Pokemon Go and the best Pokemon to use in Master League.
Image Credits: Niantic / The Pokemon Company