Pokémon GO will raise the price of remote raid passes
techcrunch.comPokémon GO is raising the price of remote raid passes, the mobile game announced today. Players used to be able to buy one pass for 100 coins (about $1) or three passes for 250 coins (about $2.50), but the cost of these items will nearly double to 195 coins for one pass, or 525 coins for three passes. Players will now be able to participate in only five raids per day.
Raid battles are a key component in Pokémon GO, requiring players to meet up at a set location in real life to battle an extra strong or rare Pokémon. When much of the world went into lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote raid passes were initially introduced to enable people to participate in raid battles from afar…and to give its parent company Niantic another income stream. As of last year, Pokémon GO surpassed the milestone of $6 billion in revenue from in-app purchases.
“We believe this change is necessary for the long-term health of the game, and we do not make it lightly,” the Pokémon GO team wrote in a blog post. “We feel this is a necessary step toward our goal of preserving and improving the unique experience of playing Pokémon GO.”
Niantic’s AR-based mobile games are designed to encourage users to explore the world around them, and remote raid passes may seem to contradict that mission — there’s less reason to meet up with other players outside when you can play the game from home. But the feature also made the game more accessible to people who may have mobility issues or other limitations that prevent them from going out to catch ’em all.
<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>We saw some of this last year when they completely redid the whole «box economy» and made boxes contain far less for far more money, and it showed in revenue and user Read more on techcrunch.com
