Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: go fest 2021, Niantic, Niantic Labs, pokemon, pokemon go

Pokémon GO Fest 2021 Theories Part 5: Mega Raids

Pokémon GO will host GO Fest 2021 from July 17th – July 18th this summer. We have been told very little about the event so far, so let's see if we can cook up some theories about what is to come in this blockbuster event. Remember, this is going to be taking place during Niantic's fifth anniversary with the franchise and the overall 25th anniversary of Pokémon as an IP. I believe we can expect some truly special releases. Here are my predictions for the Mega Raids for the event.

All right, so first things first: a bit of reality here. Niantic must realize that Mega Raids aren't as big of a draw as they imagined. The release of Mega Raids was a huge change to the raid rotation, wiping out Tiers Two and Four and creating an entirely new kind of raid with its own music. It was a huge roll-out. That roll-out, though, was overshadowed by complaints about the way Mega Evolution worked and though Niantic quickly worked to apply changes to this new function in Pokémon GO, Mega Raids aren't a thing you're going to see much hype about in online raid groups.

We have fallen into a pattern of Niantic releasing one new Mega Evolution in Pokémon GO per month. This month, Mega Altaria will debut directly following Swablu Community Day. It is not confirmed by very likely that Mega Garchomp will debut in June after Gible Community Day. So what about GO Fest?

Personally, I don't believe we will see special Mega Raids for GO Fest. Niantic knows that the hype will be focused elsewhere. Instead, I can see Niantic planning a special Mega Raid for release earlier in July. Personally, I think we'll see Mega Lucario released ahead of GO Fest. This way, it won't technically be a GO Fest release but it will see one of the most anticipated Mega available for GO Fest.

How about you? Let us know your thoughts about what Pokémon GO will do with Mega during GO Fest in the comments below.

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