OG Pokemon Go player quits over “infuriating” paywalled content

Pokemon Go has many events lined up for 2024, but a trainer that started playing back in 2016 decided to quit the game they no longer enjoy.

Pokemon Go had a rough 2023 after devs decided to nerf Remote Raid Passes, an item that changed the way many people played the game during and after the pandemic. Thanks to Paldean additions to the Pokedex and many special events in the Timeless Travels season, many are currently enjoying the mobile game, although many have their concerns.

While Niantic announced many events for the coming weeks, all of them also have ticketed activities with prices that players don’t feel make much sense, considering the rewards they give away. One player who’s been catching Pokemon since 2016 finally quit the game altogether recently, and his story sparked a discussion among fellow trainers.

Reddit user ‘sarahappleweed’ started by saying, “Pokémon go has been my favorite game to play with my family since it came out,” but quickly revealed “the inflation of Pokécoins, Pokémon bots that take 10 balls to not catch, and the way they post $70 presents” drove them away from the experience.

I’ve been playing since 2016 and am done.
byu/sarahappleweed inpokemongo

“I’m done”, they continued, “The company has no loyalty to the customers and don’t care about giving you a fun game and only care about making money. It becomes more obviously infuriating everyday.”

Some trainers were quick to point out that you can still enjoy Pokemon Go without spending any money: “I do not defend Niantic here because f**k that company but you LITERALLY do not have to buy any tickets, spend any money on incubators (lmfao eggs are s**t anyway), or raid passes. Just ignore the shop and use pokegenie to host your raid if you don’t have anyone to meet up with.”

Other trainers who quit the game and came back recently have a different perspective. One said, “I travel a lot for work so it’s easy for me to get so many different Pokestops and new gyms, it helps me kill time,” and another added, “it really feels like the only way to enjoy the game anymore is with this mentality. I also only play during commutes unless its a community day or big event.”

However, others chimed in to say Pokemon Go seems to be adding paywalls with every new event: “First they took legendary pokemon out of weekly quest rewards. Then they started putting timed research behind paywalls. Now they’ve made raiding so difficult for new pokemon. I’m close to leaving the game too. F2P just isn’t fun anymore.”

Lastly, another trainer added: “I feel like a lot of frustration with the game must come from this psychological feeling of ‘needing’ to do/have certain things. FOMO and all that. But honestly, the game feels super casual to me, and it’s pretty loose and open-ended. A lot of it is more or less what you make of it. For me, I just casually pop the game open sometimes, and I’m perfectly happy with it.”

Whether you’re enjoying the current state of the AR game or not, here’s how to get Drampa in Pokemon Go and everything you need to know about the Pokemon Go Road to Sinnoh event.