Pokémon Go, the viral megahit that signaled the return to form of Nintendo (until investors learned Nintendo didn’t own the rights to the game), has stumbled in a massive way since launch. They took away the crucial tool that helped people find Pokémon within the game, eliminated 3rd party options, and generally soured the experience of fans early on. Since launch, there have been new updates to rectify issues and Business Insider reports on a big one. The update, which is “coming soon”, introduces a handful of features centered around daily play. The upcoming update will include bonuses structured as such:
- A 500 XP & 600 Stardust bonus if you catch Pokémon every day
- 2,000 XP & 2,400 Stardust bonus if you reach a 7-day streak of catching new Pokémon
- 500 XP bonus & additional items if you visit a PokéStop and spin a photo disc daily
- 2,000 XP & extra items if you reach a 7-day streak of visiting PokéStops
The clock resets at 12 am local time, so if you catch one at 11:59 pm and one at 12:01 am you’re eligible for the daily bonus. BI notes that the daily bonuses will alleviate the painful grind to level 20 but, ultimately, these new bonuses will elevate Go to a point it should have started on. Free-to-play video games often have a collection of features that inspires players to sign on regularly and keep a consistent user base. The Pokémon Company was able to ride the nostalgia wave early on, as the act of catching Pokémon alone was enough to keep people coming, but when the players encountered the huge gaps in experience need to move on, the absence of usual free-to-play elements become a glaring issue. Hopefully this new update, along with a potential new wave of Pokémon to catch, will be the start of consistent major updates and convince people to give it another go.
