As smartphone games go, Pokemon GO has definitely been the biggest success story of the year. It took the world by storm over the Summer, and while there’s definitely been a decline in player numbers since then, it’s still extremely popular. With more active players than the usual suspects on Android, as well as more revenue than most other mobile games right now, it’s safe to say that Pokemon GO is doing okay. Now, the team at Niantic appear to be readying a new update that should help bring some of these absent players back, as well as keep the loyal players.
The new update focuses around making it easier to capture rare Pokemon, while also making it worth your while to catch that 4 Millionth Pidgey or Rattata. In Pokemon GO, certain Pokemon are group into types, such as Kindler for Fire type Pokemon or Gardener for Grass type Pokemon. In this new update that Niantic are working on, players will be awarded a bonus depending on how many of each type they’ve caught. In the examples given in the below screen shots, users would get a +1 bonus for capturing 10 of a particular type, +2 for capturing 50 and finally +3 for capturing 200 or more Pokemon of that particular type. This would work like this; a player that has caught over 57 Fire type Pokemon would get a +2 bonus towards capturing rare Pokemon of that type. It effectively rewards players for capturing the same type of Pokemon in volume, making it easier to capture rare Pokemon of that type.
This is the sort of update that many will feel should have been included in the game since the beginning, as capturing the same Pokemon, or the same type of Pokemon, over and over again is not only boring, but something that players in rural areas have little choice about. With an update like this, it might become easier to catch rarer Pokemon, and also make it more worthwhile capturing the more common Pokemon in and around you. This could have a knock-on effect for gameplay as well thanks to the Lucky Egg and Evolution exploits players use to level up require high volumes of Pokemon. When the update is due to roll out is something that we don’t know yet, but it can’t be too far off given the teasing that Niantic is happy to do.
