The fears over COVID-19 and the potential spread have led to Niantic to adjusting Pokémon GO to be more playable from home.
The company has reportedly stated that it is in the process of making updates to the game. These updates will make it possible to interact with some of the game’s features while you’re closer to your place of residence.
It’s an attempt to stem the tide of players having to go out into the wild. Which is typically required for most of the game’s activities. While there will still be some things that you will need to do away from home, the goal is to make it so that players won’t need to leave for just about everything.
COVID-19 leads to increased habitats in Pokémon GO
One of the changes happening as part of the updates is the increase in habitats. Which is what will let players encounter more Pokémon in the wild closer to home.
Niantic says that because of COVID-19, it wants to prioritize features in Pokémon GO that can be “enjoyed in individual settings.” This means you should be able to walk around the house, and perhaps your back or front yard and get in all the gameplay you may want or need.
Of course the real benefit for the players is the discount that Niantic is putting into place for specific in-game items. This is an opportunity for players to save a whole lot of money and get useful stuff.
Incense pack are being discounted by 99-percent
If you’ve held off on grabbing incense packs before, now is the time to grab them. Because Niantic is putting them on a sale.
The company hasn’t said for how long, but they will be discounted by 99-percent which means they’ll be pretty inexpensive to purchase. They’ll also now last for an hour so you can use them for longer and have more incense to use later on.
Niantic is increasing the effectiveness of incubators too. With the company mentioning that they will hatch eggs two times as fast as before.
Players will now find more gifts are Pokéstops as well. While Niantic hasn’t given players an end date to all these changes it has noted that the changes will stay in place until further notice.
Which means they could be in place for at least the next couple of weeks. Perhaps longer. In either case, players can still enjoy the game they love and stay at home or near home too.