Pokémon GO reacts to the coronavirus. After already canceling some events in affected regions, they are now introducing actions and bonuses so trainers in crisis areas can play safely from home.
This is how Niantic responds to the virus: In Japan, Korea, and Italy, the developers of Pokémon GO have already canceled some events:
- For example, the Community Day in March has been postponed there
- the weekly events, such as the Spotlight Hour and the Raid Hour have been canceled.
So that affected trainers do not have to completely give up Pokémon GO, Niantic is now introducing actions so cautious trainers can play better from home.
Catch more Pokémon from home
What actions are there? Some things are limited to the three affected countries, while other actions can benefit trainers worldwide:
- Incense is significantly cheaper in the shop – This allows you to catch more Pokémon from home (worldwide)
- Incense and the Mystery Box attract more Pokémon and last for an hour (only in Japan, Korea, and Italy)
- The PvP League can be played without using PokéCoins and rewards you with the legendary Pokémon Thundurus (not entirely clear if worldwide or only in certain regions)
- Darkrai and Giratina are expected to be available as rewards in the PvP League on the upcoming weekends (not clear if worldwide)
If you want to battle more in PvP, check out our tier list:
This is being discussed: The rewards in the PvP League are not entirely clear. While some players believe that only affected regions will receive the legendary Pokémon, Niantic says (via reddit), that this bonus is supposed to be worldwide.
It is still unclear whether you will also receive Darkrai and Giratina worldwide as rewards in Pokémon GO on the upcoming weekends, as this would save some Raid Passes. It remains to be seen whether you will get the two Pokémon then.
Why is Niantic doing this? In some regions around the world, there is a lockdown: places, cities, entire regions are cordoned off. In many areas, people do not want to go outside at all.
To give trainers something to do, Niantic is bringing Pokémon to homes. This way, there is still the incentive to play Pokémon GO without having to go outside.
In China, where the coronavirus had spread earlier than in the rest of the world, the numbers for games have skyrocketed: Many Chinese people are spending their boredom in quarantine playing games – especially mobile games.
So bleibt Ihr bei Pokémon GO auf dem Laufenden: Alle News und Specials zu Pokémon GO findet ihr auch auf unserer PoGO-Seite auf Facebook. In unserer Facebook-Gruppe zu Pokémon GO könnt ihr euch mit vielen anderen Spielern über Events austauschen oder auch neue Freunde finden.
Team GO Rocket has now become more important, as it has received really strong attackers:
