Mobile game Pokémon GO revolves around walking to different locations to catch Pokémon, spin PokéStops and battle in gyms. Because the augmented reality app requires players to interact with their environment, COVID-19 has severely affected the playing style. Niantic initially had the right response to combat the pandemic's unique challenges and unrolled a set of bonuses to make it easier to play at home.
However, the multimillion company has recently taken Pokémon GO in downright dangerous directions. Niantic released events centered around hatching eggs such as the Bow Smoochum quests and the Rocket eggs. These egg events require players to walk distances up to 10 km to earn event Pokémon. So Niantic is actively encouraging players to walk outside to spin Pokéstops and hatch eggs during a highly infectious pandemic.
When COVID-19 first hit, Niantic was relatively quick in adapting to the changing times. The company increased incense effectiveness, halved egg distances, increased buddy gifts and introduced remote raid passes. These measures, particularly the incense, allowed users to experience Pokémon GO from the safety of their homes without risking their health. But in the last couple of weeks, the mobile app company made some truly perplexing decisions that are endangering their player base.
The first signs of trouble came with the Bow Smoochum event, where Niantic released a Smoochum wearing a bow as a part of their Halloween series. Players had to spin specific stops to get the Smoochum quest and these quests included spinning three stops and hatching an egg. While it seemed easy enough just to get one, the event's real star was the shiny version of Bow Smoochum, a rare collectible prized by many hardcore fans. So Niantic was luring players outside at a time when health organizations were recommending people stay home, all so they can search for this shiny by walking to hatch eggs. To make matters worse, the company doubled egg distances the day before the event, forcing players to walk longer to finish their quests. Niantic could've easily created automatically generated "Catch five Pokémon" quests to allow players to participate in the event, yet they decided to choose the riskiest route for no concrete reason.
This generated negative backlash, as Niantic also cut incense effectiveness. Players would no longer be able to play home: they would have to walk to Pokéstops and different spawn points to continue playing. These decisions didn't make a lot of sense. Previous bonuses actually increased revenue sales as players bought more Incubators and Incense. Niantic ignored players in countries under lockdown and tempted others to risk going outside. Confused fans requested to have the COVID-19 bonuses back, but Niantic ignored their suggestions and steamrolled ahead with their next event: Rocket eggs.
If players wanted to have three new Pokémon (Pawniard, Vullaby or Sandile), they would have to find six Rocket stops, battle them, find a Rocket leader, and have an open bag space and then walk 12 km to hatch the egg. Though Niantic did reduce the hatch distances briefly, the process of obtaining Rocket eggs is unnecessarily tedious. Pokémon GO provides four Rocket balloons a day, yet players need to fight six Rocket grunts (and a Rocket leader) to get the red eggs. This means that if players want a chance at the new Pokémon sooner, they will need to walk outside to hatch their current eggs and find Rocket stops.
Niantic also added Trubbish to the egg pool, so even after players found six rocket stops and walked outside to hatch an egg for free space, their risky efforts were rewarded with a trash Pokémon. Adding these terrible hatches prolongs only prolongs the time it takes for players to find the new Pokémon. The issue is compounded by the fact that players cannot delete old eggs; if a player accidentally spins a stop or experiences the delayed egg hatching glitch, they have to go back outside to walk their eggs again for a free space. Niantic is well aware of the hype around new Pokémon, and it's quite horrific that they've decided to use that hype to coax players back outside.
The mobile app company has had a troubled relationship with fans from the beginning, but Niantic's latest decisions utterly fly in the face of logic. COVID-19 rates are rapidly rising once again, with many experts predicting a second wave made more deadly by the flu season. This information was publicly available before the Rocket egg stop, yet Pokémon GO still forged ahead in encouraging players to wander outside en masse. While Niantic did warn players to socially distance, this is a flimsy attempt to shield themselves from responsibility when they're hosting events that encourage players to walk to the same Rocket stop locations at the same time.
It's particularly nonsensical when considering that Niantic is headquartered in America, a country that is contributing a fifth of coronavirus' global mortality rate. That Pokémon GO stopped the COVID-19 bonuses and promoted events pressuring players to walk their eggs means they're encouraging players to break quarantine rules. Several countries are under lockdown at this time, while other players may live in crowded city areas with high infection rates. Niantic is sending a clear message that they care more about selling incubators and generating revenue than keeping players safe during these dangerous times.
Niantic has a history of ignoring community feedback, but their current actions have crossed the line. It's insulting to see such a high-profile company ignoring the pandemic and sets a bad example for younger fans. Continuing these egg events is extremely irresponsible and highlights a lack of concern for their player's well-being. Their actions damage the players' trust as Niantic insinuates that their quarterly revenue is more important than protecting their users.