Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: , , , ,


Elite Raids Bring In-Person Raiding Back To Pokémon GO

A new type of raid has come to Pokémon GO. Elite Raids will be in-person-only raids that are now already active in-game as of today. These Elite Raids appear as "Mysterious Raid Eggs" that will run for 24 hours leading up to the hatch.

Hoopa Unbound in Pokémon GO. Credit: Niantic
Hoopa Unbound in Pokémon GO. Credit: Niantic

Here's what Niantic has to say about Elite Raids in Pokémon GO:

What are Elite Raids? Elite Raids are a new, challenging variety of Raid Battles. They appear from special Raid Eggs that take 24 hours to hatch. Once the Raid Egg has hatched, a Raid Boss appears for 30 minutes—but take note that Elite Raid Bosses can only be battled in-person. Gather up your friends and prepare for an epic confrontation! Defeat Hoopa Unbound, and you'll earn an opportunity to catch it. Remember, Trainers will not be able to participate in Elite Raids using Remote Raid Passes. Please note that the first of these raids will begin at 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., or 5:00 p.m. local time on October 16th, 2022, depending on when their Raid Eggs appear.

This style of raiding is slightly reminiscent of EX Raids, which were invite-only raids that were sent to active Pokémon GO players. Players would be invited to these special raids, which featured different species than what were in Tier Five raids at the time.

This is also a way to bring in-person raiding back as an exciting feature without removing remote raiding on normal raids. This is Niantic perfectly implementing what I've been talking about here regarding their pandemic dilemma. Niantic introduced fun and interesting bonuses to Pokémon GO during the pandemic that many grew to love and rely on, but the company wants the game to be an exploration-based walking game. My solution was that the game should add new elements of in-person gameplay rather than removing pandemic bonuses. This is such a strong example of how to enrich Pokémon GO while not removing what has become standard.


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Theo DwyerAbout Theo Dwyer

Theo Dwyer writes about comics, film, and games.
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