For over half a year, there has been PvP in Pokémon GO. But do we actually need this feature and what does Niantic think about Trainer Battles?
This is PvP: In December 2018, Niantic introduced one of the biggest new features in Pokémon GO: Trainer Battles. Players could finally duel with others and even challenge the 3 team leaders, competing against NPCs.
But what is the status of this mode after over half a year? Do we need Trainer Battles and how is PvP accepted by players?
PvP in Pokémon GO – Do we even need it?
How is the feature received? In December, the hype around PvP was massive. Every player wanted to fight and most players participated in the daily 3 battles that provide rewards.
However, this hype has noticeably faded over time. There is still a loyal PvP community that hosts urban tournaments, but PvP is hardly played among the broader audience.
If you look at Google Trends, the interest has sharply declined since December. The spikes are now only small and mostly occur when there is a quest related to PvP.
Why isn’t PvP well received? In December 2018, all players wanted to get the Sinnoh Stones. This item allows you to evolve various Pokémon from the 4th generation and was incredibly rare back then.
Now, most players already have all evolutions from the Sinnoh Stone. The big reward from the battles is therefore hardly appealing anymore.
Moreover, there is not much competitive spirit in Trainer Battles. The winner and the loser receive rewards from the same pool of rewards. It does not matter whether you win or lose.
Many Trainer Battles are therefore quite boring. A player brings particularly weak Pokémon and quickly lets themselves be defeated. You want to get the rewards, which are the same in the end.
Do we need PvP in the game? The rewards from PvP are not very important for the meta. If you have enough Sinnoh Stones, you can earn all other rewards much faster through other means.
PvP is partially part of quests where you have to fight against each other. So far, there has not been a very strong Pokémon as a reward from such field research.
Where is PvP well received?
Are there proponents of the mode? Especially in large cities, there are quite active PvP communities. There are self-created rankings and they organize tournaments that anyone can participate in.
TheSilphRoad organizes special PvP tournaments every month, which can be held worldwide. This is also accepted in Germany, and groups keep forming for it.
How many people are involved? We were in contact with the PvP community from Mainz a few months ago. They reported that there are usually around 40 players participating in the tournaments.
40 players are certainly not few, but compared to the masses of players that, for example, participate in a Community Day, it is no comparison.
This is where the mode is well received: If you look at the USA, you see a significantly larger community than in Germany. There are many more venues when you look at the entries at TheSilphRoad.
PvP certainly has supporters, but they are relatively fewer in Germany. Abroad, Trainer Battles are more popular, but they do not come close to the numbers that other events in Pokémon GO generate.
What does Niantic think about Trainer Battles?
At the GO Fest in Dortmund, we spoke with Laura Warner and Matt Ein from MeinMMO. They are two game designers at Niantic and also answered some questions about PvP.
What does Niantic say about Trainer Battles? The two designers were excited about Trainer Battles. However, they also confirmed that Niantic relies heavily on the community and has intentionally entrusted tournaments to TheSilphRoad and other communities.
What do they say about the criticism? We asked the two about the same rewards for winners and losers, which aren’t very motivating.
Warner explained that this was a conscious choice. They want to give every player the incentive to fight and not demotivate them when they lose a battle.
What will happen to PvP in the future? Matt Ein helped with the PvP mode and was himself a big fan of the mode. He told us that he thinks it is the best part of the whole game, but he also believes that there is still a lot of potential here and that they can get even more out of it.
So it seems the work on Trainer Battles is not yet finished, and Niantic will continue to work on making the mode interesting. It remains to be seen what will come next.
What do you think about PvP? Is this feature still interesting for you? What would you wish for to make it more interesting?
