Niantic News Articles
Wednesday4th Aug 2021
News Pokémon GO Reduces PokéStop Spin Distance In America And New Zealand
And the community isn't happy
As countries around the world attempt to bounce back from the pandemic, Niantic has decided now is the right time to undo some Pokémon GO safety and accessibility measures tied to the pandemic. The latest update applies specifically to America and New Zealand - with the mobile AR developer announcing at the start of...
Friday16th Jul 2021
News Intrepid Pokémon GO Fans Have Discovered A Tactic That Makes Raid Bosses Easier To Catch
6,500 throws later
It's taken a year, but some dedicated Pokémon GO fans have just discovered a new tactic when it comes to capturing powerful 'Raid' monsters. The discovery was made by Pokémon fansite The Silph Road, which has just published its 48th community study – a venture dedicated to finding out if there was a certain period during Raid...
Tuesday13th Jul 2021
News The Pandemic Is So Bad In Japan That A Special Edition 'Pokémon GO' Pikachu Has Been Delayed
Was due for release on the 22nd July
Japan is currently struggling to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, having recently taken the difficult decision to hold the already-delayed 2020 Olympics behind closed doors – and there's more bad news on the way (for those who like catching Pocket Monsters on their phones, at least). Pokémon GO developer...
Wednesday7th Jul 2021
News Pokémon GO Banks A Cool $5 Billion In Revenue In Just 5 Years
Pikachu returned
You know that Pokémon GO? It's still pretty popular, by all accounts — specifically the bank accounts of Niantic and The Pokémon Company (and by extension Nintendo). Data from Sensor Tower (thanks, MCVUK) indicates that the hit AR mobile Pokémon catchathon is still doing incredible business around the globe and has now hit the...
Tuesday6th Jul 2021
News Pokémon GO’s Fifth Anniversary Is Today, And Here's What's Planned In-Game
Flying Pikachu are involved
Can you believe Pokémon GO is now five years old? When the smartphone title launched back in 2016, big things were expected, but it's fair to say that it has outstripped even the most optimistic of predictions and has become both a critical and commercial hit for The Pokémon Company, developer Niantic and, of course,...
News Mario's Creator Shigeru Miyamoto Is Still "Hooked" On Pokémon GO
"It's a dream come true"
Even after five years, Niantic's augmented reality game Pokémon GO remains popular as ever. It's not just avid trainers who are still obsessed with the game though. During Nintendo’s 81st annual General Meeting of Shareholders, the heads of the company were asked what their favourite games were, and it seems in recent...
Tuesday22nd Jun 2021
News Pokémon GO Is Getting Some Of Its Pre-COVID Features Back
Thank you for waiting. We've restored your Pokémon to full health.
In many countries, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been so successful that a significant proportion of the population is now considered safe. While many of us are using this opportunity to plan all sorts of travel and return to our pre-pandemic hobby of licking strangers, there's...
Wednesday16th Jun 2021
News It's Bidoof's Time To Shine In The Newest Pokémon GO Event
Best boi
Bidoof is love, and Bidoof is life. It is a testament to Nintendo and Niantic that they've responded so well to the toothy boi becoming a surprise meme hit, including a rather fantastic Bidoof fancam on April Fool's Day from the official Pokémon YouTube channel. Your latest Bidoof News is that the lil gopher guy is getting his very own...
Tuesday30th Mar 2021
News Niantic CEO Shares A Look At Potential AR Glasses
Blurred reality
Niantic is a company that developed and mastered the idea of AR (augmented reality) gaming on smart devices with Ingress, but the title that propelled the company to stratospheric heights was undoubtedly Pokémon Go. It went viral in the summer of 2016 and is still running today, while the company also produced Harry Potter: Wizards...
Tuesday23rd Mar 2021
Poll What Other Nintendo Franchise Would You Like To See Niantic Work On?
Let us know!
Earlier today it was announced that Nintendo and Niantic would be partnering to release a Pikmin mobile app, designed to make walking "more fun" with real-world AR technology. According to the press release, this is the "first in a series of apps" based on Nintendo's beloved characters. Niantic CEO, John Hanke, said it was a "natural...
Sunday14th Mar 2021
News Niantic "Testing" Pokémon GO Feature That Reveals What's Inside Its Loot Box-Style Eggs
Fair play
Pokémon GO might not necessarily be an average mobile game, but there are still certain aspects of it that encourage users to exchange real-world money for in-game currency. There are also a number of gacha style elements. To make life a little easier for trainers, Niantic has announced it's started testing a new feature with a "limited...
Friday5th Mar 2021
News Pokémon GO And The TCG Are Getting A Professor Willow Crossover Card
Trading places
2021 is the fifth anniversary of Pokémon GO, which means it's been five years since the craze made a bunch of us go out and get exercise by accident. The game continues to reach new heights, although they recently drew some ire for taking away their stay-at-home safety additions despite the pandemic not being over yet. The latest...
Wednesday3rd Mar 2021
News Niantic Showcases Pokémon GO Proof-Of-Concept HoloLens Demo At Microsoft Ignite 2021
"We’ve only scratched the surface"
At Microsoft Ignite 2021, Niantic announced it would be collaborating with Microsoft and showed off a proof-of-concept Pokémon GO demo on a HoloLens 2 headset. Niantic founder and CEO, John Hanke, appeared in a video illustrating how AR can enrich daily routines. Keep in mind, this demo is not intended for...
Wednesday24th Feb 2021
One million players have received permanent bans
We've witnessed increased efforts lately to stop Pokémon cheaters. After The Pokémon Company announced efforts to crack down on those using "altered data" in Pokémon Sword and Shield and
Tuesday26th Jan 2021
News Australian Pokémon Go Player Becomes First To Hit Level 50 Worldwide
FleeceKing takes the crown but it was a close race
It's been nearly two months since Pokémon Go upped its level cap within the Go Beyond update. Moving from Level 40 to 50, players have had an uphill grind to reach this rank ever since, one that's included some entanglements with UK authorities. Yesterday, it finally happened as not one, but two...
Wednesday13th Jan 2021
News Another Person Got In Trouble For Breaking Lockdown Restrictions To Play Pokémon GO
Priorities, man!
Just yesterday, we heard about the police in Essex having to have a word with a few men "aged 30+" about breaking the COVID rules to catch Pokémon in the AR game, Pokémon GO. According to a tweet from the Southend Police, these men were going around making "non-essential" trips to public places across Rochford. The tweet was...
Tuesday12th Jan 2021
News UK Police Force Takes Issue With Pokémon GO Players Allegedly Breaking Lockdown Restrictions
Had cause to speak with a number of men "aged 30+"
Police in Rochford, near Southend in the UK county of Essex, aren't best pleased with the behaviour of Pokémon GO players in the region, accusing them of flaunting lockdown restrictions which cover the entire country at present. The force posted a social media statement which has now been deleted,...
Tuesday5th Jan 2021
News Niantic Is Giving Eight Lucky Pokémon Go Players The Chance To Be An In-Game Character
A first for the series!
Pokémon Go developer Niantic is giving eight lucky players the chance to immortalise their avatar in-game via the Pokémon Go Tour: Kanto event. To be in with a chance of winning this most unique of prizes, you have to submit a screenshot of your Pokémon Go avatar via Twitter (don't forget to use the hashtag...
Tuesday22nd Dec 2020
News Switch Owners "Most Likely" To Own A Rival Console, 2020 Study Shows
Console also scores highly in 'bestselling' and 'worst game' categories
Our friends over at GamesIndustry.biz love crunching the numbers and turning them into lovely charts, and we love reading them. Their "Year In Numbers" for 2020 shows a pandemic-fuelled frenzy of video game spending, with a 21% increase in the value of the console market,...
Thursday17th Dec 2020
Feature What Can We Expect From Pokémon’s 25th Anniversary?
2021 marks 25 years of catching 'em all
It’s Thanksgiving and time for the Macy’s Parade in New York. After float upon float showing various things, in comes a familiar yellow friend. Multiple Pikachu have come and started dancing to celebrate Thanksgiving. However, at the end, something is uncovered... the Pokémon 25th anniversary logo...
Friday13th Nov 2020
News Pokémon HOME - Pokémon GO Connectivity Is Now Live, It's Just Not Available To Everyone Yet
Update: Limited to trainers at Level 24 and above
Update [Fri 13th Nov, 2020 11:40 GMT]: According to Serebii, players at Level 24 and above can now transfer Pokémon from GO to HOME. Original Article [Wed 11th Nov, 2020 01:30 GMT]: Good news trainers (well, kind of), Pokémon HOME is finally able to be connected with Niantic's augmented-reality...
Wednesday11th Nov 2020
News It Takes "Just Under" Seven Days To Fully Charge Pokémon's GO Transporter
Or you can fork out some PokéCoins
We've known for a while time now that transfers between Pokémon GO and Pokémon HOME would have a cool-down period, so just how long do you have to wait if your GO Transporter runs out of energy? As highlighted by Nintendo Life contributor and Serebii.net webmaster, Joe Merrick, when you run out of energy,...
Tuesday1st Sep 2020
News Pokémon GO To Lose Support For Android 5, Older iPhones And iOS Versions
October update will end support, says Niantic
The developer of Pokémon GO has announced that support for a handful of devices and platforms will be ending when a new update launches next month. Niantic confirmed in a blog post on the game's website that support will be ending for Android 5, iOS 10 and iOS 11, in addition to Apple's iPhone 5S and...
Friday14th Aug 2020
News Pokémon GO Players Call For Niantic To Disclose Loot Box Odds
It's been a problem for "years"
Pokémon GO trainers are calling for Niantic to disclose "loot box odds" in the insanely popular augmented reality game after fan site The Silph Road discovered the chance of hatching a Deino (see above) in the first three days of the latest event - Dragon Week - was likely to be less than one percent. "Deino’s...
Tuesday7th Jul 2020
Random Niantic Got Rian Johnson To Direct A Pokémon GO Commercial
"It was a real pleasure"
Niantic's augmented reality mobile game Pokémon GO has just turned four years old. To celebrate in style, it's teamed up with the Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Knives Out director, Rian Johnson, to produce a special commercial for Pokémon GO Fest 2020 (taking place on 25th - 26th July). Johnson describes himself as a...
Thursday18th Jun 2020
News Pokémon GO Is Ending Support For Older Android Devices
Update: Niantic has now postponed this
Update (Thu 18th Jun, 2020 01:30 BST): It looks like Niantic has had second thoughts about dropping support for older Android devices in its next update. This will now be postponed until it's collected more data. Here's the important post it made on its support page: Important update (June 15, 2020): To...
Thursday4th Jun 2020
News Pokémon GO Update Is Live, Along With Cool New "Reality Blending" Feature
Limited to Android phones for now
Pokémon GO has been updated to Ver. 0.177.0 (Android) and Ver. 1.143.0 (iOS), and you can download it now. The latest update for Niantic's augmented reality game comes with a range of tweaks, changes and improvements, including: Addition of a visual indicator (white rings around the Charge Moves) allowing...
Tuesday19th May 2020
News Niantic Talks About Playing And Developing Pokémon GO From Home
"It's been challenging"
It's been a difficult period for every video game company in recent months to get teams up and running from home. For Niantic, though, it's been even more of a challenge. Not only has it had to make a transition to working from home, but it's also had to rework and update its insanely popular mobile game Pokémon GO so its...
Thursday26th Mar 2020
News Pokémon GO Player Spending Soars As More Trainers Bunker Down
Gotta stay inside
Niantic's outdoor mobile game Pokémon GO is reportedly making even more money than it previously was now that people around the globe are locked down indoors. According to Sensor Tower data (via VentureBeat), global player spending in the game reached $23 million last week on 16th March, which was an increase of 66.7% from the...
Friday13th Mar 2020
News Niantic Updates Pokémon GO To Protect Players From The Coronavirus
Will continue until "further notice"
The COVID-19 pandemic – commonly known as the coronavirus outbreak – has already had a huge impact on the games industry. Certain games have been delayed, Switch stock is in short supply in some locations around the world, and most recently it's resulted in the
