We were promised new features in Pokémon GO last year but developer Niantic has been rather frugal when it comes to updates. We've had Gen 2 monsters and the ability to dress up avatars, but the promised PvP and Legendary updates are yet to happen - thankfully, it looks like we won't have to wait much longer.
Speaking to Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Niantic Mathieu de Fayet had this to say:
Pokémon Go has been downloaded 650 million times, but now it has 65 million active players. How do you keep players interested in the game? Due to the large success of the game, we had to delay some planned innovations. Right now we are working on some that are due to hit this summer (in the northern hemisphere), such as giving more value to the choice of the teams, releasing Legendary Pokémon and introducing PvP. One thing we learned with Ingress was that the game can sustain itself if we are able to create social interactions amongst players, and we are working on that.
Those of you with long memories will notice that de Fayet doesn't mention trading, which was promised last year alongside several other key features. Trading was shown off during the early promotional trailers for the game and has the potential to totally change the way it plays - which is perhaps why Niantic has put it on the back burner for now.
2017 is shaping up to be a pretty big year for Pokémon GO, even if the user base isn't as large as it was a while ago. Do you think these new additions will give the title a boost, and if you've stopped playing, will they convince you to start again?
[source gonintendo.com]
Comments 32
Can we have proper pokémon spin-offs back instead of this bonanza of questionable pay2win mobile titles?
Because the game was so well recieved we had to delay much needed content updates so most players would stop playing again.
Now thats a great business plan.
When the game was released i saw tons of people outside trying to catch pokemon. They are all gone. Noone is still doing it around here.
I hope we never get trading, but other stuff sounds good.
@dew12333
I hope we do get trading, because it's going to be outright essential to getting the regional Pokémon like Tauros, Heracross, Kangaskhan, Mr Mime, Corsola, Farfetch'd.
@Sinister Its been literally months since I've seen anyone playing it - longer than that since I last touched it.
But to its credit, I suddenly saw a woman on the train playing it - so... I guess there are still the odd one or two people wandering around in that pokemon Go fan airspace somewhere?
@ThatNyteDaez
There are still plenty of people playing it in my local park, on nice days or lunch breaks or whatever.
Who here is waiting for a REAL Pokemon title?😔
I hope we're kind of guaranteed the legendaries.
Not gonna be a happy bunny if I don't catch em.
@ThatNyteDaez @Sinister
Yeah, they're too little too late. I was still actively playing myself up until a month or two ago. I tried picking it up again with the adventure week recently, and it was fun, but it just didn't stick for me.
@RupeeClock I bet they will introduce trading very very late. They have to cash in on those ingame purchases somehow (incubating & hatching eggs).
@ThatNyteDaez I just switched from Windows Phone to Android and trying out the game now. It feels a bit off to play it alone but hey it's pretty fun.
But I guess I will play it until I stop seeing a lot of new Pokemons. Right now I get a new one every time I leave to work and it makes it pretty exciting. I'm not sure how anyone can still play this for weeks or months thought.
@RupeeClock
I know what you mean I would like to add them to my dex, but I just worry spoofers, ebayers, etc. with just demean the whole experience.
@dew12333
No different to how the Pokémon games have always been on the Gameboy and DS line of systems, when you think about it.
@KTT
It's not like the introduction of trading would grant you the candies needed to power up or evolve things though, trading would likely have a very minimal impact on the gym meta.
But it would make the game a lot more social, along with the PvP battles. That's one of the major goals of the game after all.
@hepgius Pokémon Go is not pay to win, and it's not a questionable title.
@JubilifeRival It may not be P2W but it's surely questionable. It's buggy, laggy and lacks any gameplay. It's more like a Pokémon themed fitness app (and not even a good one, because that could have been a neat idea if the app was a proper fitness app, which it isn't) . And worst crime of it all it's just Ingress with Pokémon in it, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, that remotely resembles real Pokémon titles on GO. To add insult to the injury the entire business plan has been disastrous (slow rollout of later generations, no events, no legendaries, no incentive to play in the long run, no trade which was an essential part of why Pokémon became what it is now during its earlier days) and it's the quintessential "fluke everyone played for a weekend and now few barely remember it" app. I wish devs would get over mobile, it's clear that it isn't worth it. Really the best thing that one can say about GO is that it isn't even half shilling as other mobile titles, which is hardly a compliment.
"...giving more value to the choice of the teams". Curious about those of us who aren't on a team (all three or four)?
Add legendaries, and I'll start playing again for a little while. If the legendaries are too hard to find, then I might not play much of it.
@hepgius This wasn't meant to be a real Pokemon title to begin with. Just a real time location game based on Pokemon. Also, Ingress is still being updated. Just a few weeks ago a new item was added, and it's been around more than 4 years now. While gameplay is much left to be desired, what's more to Pokemon than collecting and battling? Events are happening, but team events are still yet to be implemented like those in Ingress.
@KTT
I'm not that niave to think the game isn't about making money, even when the social aspect is one of the game's stated goals.
The microtransactions and how you progress in the game have clearly been designed and balanced to tempt you into buying things.
Coins are really hard earned in this game, defending ten gyms is a difficult feat, and this may only award you 100 coins a day.
Honestly, I'd personally prefer that the Legendaries don't get released (or on individual key holidays), instead having more generations released and maybe providing events were 'region exclusives' migrate for a brief period. It feels like Gen 3 should've already been released, and they took too long just releasing Gen 2 IMO.
@hepgius HAHAHA u "wish devs would get over mobile' it's clear that it isn't worth it." That's probably one of THE most incorrect statements I've read in a long time. Unfortunately it's more than worth it for developers because it's one of the most profitable business models out there, P2W with a 65 million active user base is raking them cash on a daily basis. Even without that kind of user base most devs make more profits on mobile than on console. So please explain to me how it's not worth it to them. I for one haven't spent a single dollar on any mobile P2W game and I'm just not a fan of mobile games to begin with, but unless u can backup your statement what u said is right down ignorant.
Companies listen to dollars not people, and wallets continue speaking by spending money on the trash P2W model so unless consumers stop supporting that garbage devs will continue to make these games. It's a sad, mad world we live in.
@MaSSiVeRiCaN
That's simply incorrect. The mobile environment is a flawed, unfriendly, crowded space where making real money it's more hard than it seems, and it could very well be counterproductive in the long run. Just look at japan, which is the country with the second best revenue from app store in the world (https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/20/china-poised-to-overtake-u-s-japan-in-ios-revenue-within-the-next-year/) and still that's not enough (http://www.siliconera.com/2017/05/19/100-smartphone-games-terminated-service-japan-just-first-four-months-2017/). Also looking at math: how many of those 650 million of GO players even made an in-app purchase? Isn't a steady secure entry price point a better revenue model than a freemium tier that may or may not ensure revenue? GO has been probably the most downloaded game of all times with 650 million downloads, let's say that every one of those downloads spent a dollar (which they didn't) the game would have made the same cash that SM's sales did (16-ish millions x 40 dollars). It's also hurting devs and IPs. because it's watering them down without actually bringing any new real money in. The mobile space is so flicke, tumultuous, rapid and inconsistent, how the hell can it be considered a better investment over traditional games it's out of my comprehension. It's not. And if devs don't start to treat their IPs better they're going to hurt in the long run.
I won't lie. My girlfriend is going to go crazy about this. Legendaries are fine and dandy, but PvP is where it's at.
I remember being incredibly hyped for Pokemon Go and I waited every day since they initially announced the game, but Niantic executed this all so incredibly poorly that they have to have a seriously major update to bring people back, hopefully they actually pull through this time with PvP and legendaries
@RupeeClock
It's that experience that worries me with trading, it just encourages too many people to cheat.
@dew12333
The game already encourages people to cheat, without trading.
Just by having Pokémon only available on certain continents.
By having an advantage by spoofing location to get into as many gyms as possible, to get lots of rare Pokémon, etc.
Meanwhile there's STILL no Stops where I live. I'm not paying any more money for this game, stopped playing last year.
@dew12333 So you'd rather have people travel halfway around the world to get a Farfetch'd?
@hepgius Niantic reported that out of the 650M they have an active user base of 65M, and their revenues are above and beyond what Super Mario Run made, they were at one point making like $2M a day. As much as I can't stand the P2W model, it's unfortunate that when it comes to mobile it's already proven to be a much more successful model and a cash cow for many IP's including Niantic and the Pokémon company. So yes the App Store is quite hellish for many devs, no visibility and a flooded mess however in this case they've proven that P2W was the way to go. It's the consumers fault, look how much they bitched, moaned and complained at the fixed price price point of Super Mario Run. Which underperformed in sales. Yes it made a pretty penny but in the large scope of the mobile scene it was considered close to failure for an IP with such large exposure. Yet people are willing to shell out hundreds over the course of the year on Go, it's absolutely ridiculous and it's the fact that they pay a $1 here and a $1 there that gives the illusion like your not paying a lot. Next thing know u spent $40 plus on stupid ass microtransactions.
Talk to any top dev on mobile and they would scoff at a fixed price point, the freemium tier/model ensures revenues never stop, where a fixed price point has a limit based on one final purchase which is why SM Run tanked. Look at FE Warriors vastly inferior number of d/loads yet it's already made more money than SM Run. It's unfortunate but that's the way it is which is why most likely all mobile games from now on from Ninty will be "Free-to-Start"! Again the people decided this with their wallets. It's clear the age we live in is one where people love getting ripped off. Same with Ultra Street Fighter II, i won't go even go there.
@3dsgeek333
i don't see it as a major flaw no, other Pokemon maybe.
@RupeeClock
In all the Pokemon games I have always felt achievement from putting literally hundreds of hours of time into getting the Pokemon that I have wanted, and have always felt belittled by the ways that people have 'cheated' in Pokemon. And I mean cloning , rng, etc etc etc etc the whole lot of them.
I don't thing a few minor Pokemon and the fact that people are just too lazy to play the game how it was intended are causing as much as an issue as trading will. The main benificory of that will be eBay.
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