For several weeks, fans of Pokémon GO have expressed their frustration towards developer Niantic after an update made remote raids more expensive. Now, Pokémon GO director Michael Steranka has commented on the matter.
What is the situation? At the end of March 2023, Niantic announced a price increase for remote raid passes in Pokémon GO and implemented this on April 6, 2023.
This caused anger among some parts of the community. An open letter with the motto “HearUsNiantic” was drafted, in which content creators and players expressed their frustration with this change. They also stated that they felt unheard as a community (via reddit).
However, Niantic did not respond to the matter in the following weeks, leading to further criticism. Now, Pokémon GO director Michael Steranka has addressed the issues in an interview with the portal Dot Esports (via dotesports).
This is what Steranka says: In the interview with Dot Esports, Steranka explains that they have heard the movement, “we read everything and see everything,” says the director. He means, they “prefer to let actions speak rather than words” and emphasizes: “And we, as a development team, have really worked hard to put together a whole bunch of new features that, hopefully, players will like over the course of this year.”
The decision regarding remote raids was also difficult for him, says Steranka, but he believes:
If we look at the overall state of the game and the kind of behavior that remote raids brought with it, then it simply did not fit the kind of experience we wanted to create. And I can honestly say that it even became an unhealthy way for me personally to engage with the game. I was just spending money on PokéCoins to spam as many legendary raids as possible.
And we are talking about legendary Pokémon, which are supposed to be the epic pinnacle of all Pokémon content. And this is something that players, myself included, do more than a dozen times a day, some even more than 100 times a day. So this is something that, to be honest, we let wait a little too long and ultimately had to correct.
Michael Steranka, via DotEsports
They did not take the decision lightly, but it was necessary for the longevity of the game, explains Steranka. Currently, there are no plans to address the points of HearUsNiantic, “because we will stick to the decision made,” says Steranka: “But instead, we hope that players will see a lot of the hard work that the team has put into this game over the past year, because I think what we will release in 2023 will really blow people away.”
The discussion about the changes is being conducted very emotionally in parts. This has also caused problems within the community:
How does the community react? In the subreddits about Pokémon GO, the statement is already being discussed in an initial reaction and is largely received critically (via reddit). Players express frustration that it seems that the concerns of the community are not being addressed.
- “It is so sad to see this. They are aware of the complaints, they know that they are losing revenue, but they continue because the vision is apparently more important than profit and the well-being of the players,” writes user hoenndex (via reddit).
- “This was obvious from the start. It is no secret that they never intended to reverse the changes,” says user nvdnqvi (via reddit)
- “I want to be honest. I understand what they are talking about, and the P2W culture in games is a tough battle,” says user cjjones07 in another thread on the topic (via reddit): “But the execution and especially the fact that they do not show the community respect for the ‘HearUsNiantic movement’ to address the changes is a slap in the face.”
Whether Niantic can win back the angry players with new features remains to be seen for now. One of these new features has just been introduced: Soon, Pokémon GO will feature Crypto Raids.
What do you think about the discussion? Let us know in the comments!
