"It's Not Good": When Pokémon GO Events Are Undeniably Bad

Even the most patient Poké-enthusiasts among us would readily admit that locking bonuses and encounters behind a paywall is a poor way to inspire people to get up, get out, and go.

The new costumed Pokémon only appears in Raids and the new Shiny is a ghost with a shovel in its head. Happy Holidays, I guess?

A number of years ago, when I actually still used Facebook—and when it was even still called Facebook and not Meta even though people know it’s still the same shitty company—a high school classmate of mine wished me Happy Birthday as a “fellow cynic.” On one hand, I was happy to receive these wishes on my special day. On the other hand, I was surprised, nay, alarmed to think that I came off as cynical in how I presented myself to the world. I had considered myself, deep down, an optimist. Was I living in denial?

However many years later, having long since deleted my Facebook account and moving over to Bluesky as my Twitter replacement after witnessing Elon Musk drive it into the ground, I find myself proving to be every bit the cynic my former colleague envisioned. Maybe he was right all along. He was voted “Most Likely to Succeed” in our graduating class, after all. Then again, perhaps external circumstances have helped me along this path. My hat goes off to the people who can maintain a positive outlook after living through the COVID-19 pandemic at its peak, an ongoing climate catastrophe, unspeakable horrors as a function of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and a forthcoming second Donald Trump presidency, among other calamities. Unless they’re just that much better at self-deception. I think a lot about these sorts of things—probably too much.

This is all to say that, in December 2024 in the year of our Lord Arceus, I’m cynical about most happenings, including but not limited to what goes on in Pokémon GO. If you’ve spent but a modicum of time on this Substack, you’ve undoubtedly picked up on this sentiment. As such, I can hardly be considered an objective voice on PoGO topics and news. Like with my larger cynical leanings, it might’ve been bound to turn out this way. Or circumstances and Niantic’s handling of its creation might’ve pushed me down a dark path, presumably one with a Gengar at the end of it. Either way, I’m predisposed at this point to view matters surrounding the game negatively, so when I rant about them, I know I’m approaching them with a certain bias.

When members of the community who are nicer than me or more invested in the Pokémon franchise as a whole than me are critical of Pokémon GO, then, I think it carries more weight. I still think back to a comment made by Matt, the man behind PvPoke, an angel of whom none of us are worthy, in response to a tweet back in May from G47IX, Polish PoGO player and infographic creator extraordinaire, asking what followers thought about a $2 ticket for extra Field Research tasks that reward the Trainer with PokéCoins upon completion. His reply:

Between this and the three-part seasonal mystery tickets, I feel like Niantic keeps inventing more convoluted ways to drive player spend and retention, instead of just, like, making a good game.

At least from what I’ve observed, Matt is rarely negative, and when he does criticize facets of the game, he does so without attacking individuals within Niantic or the Pokémon GO community, as is observed in this example. First things first, Mr. Kakuna Mattata hit the nail on the head with his analysis here. Rather than creating a fun base user experience and encouraging players to spend more to enhance that experience, Hanke & Co. have made the free-to-play version of PoGO altogether bland, seeking to nickel-and-dime their customers into spending real-world money so that they can derive satisfaction from the app. It’s as disappointing as it is predatory.

So, yeah—if Matt is speaking ill of your game, you know you’re doing something wrong. I got a similar vibe when I read a recent tweet from Joe Merrick, freelance journalist and webmaster of Serebii.net, a massive Pokémon information resource website (that’s not even me calling them “massive”; it’s in their description). Merrick loves Pokémon. Loves. He tweets several times a day on most days, whether it’s an update from his time spent with the newly released Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket as an avid user, a blurb about a more obscure title among the many offshoots in the franchise’s video game series, or an observation about a piece of official Pokémon merchandise or promotional artwork. Most of his Twitter content is posted without commentary, and as with Sir PvPoke, if it does veer into the realm of the critical, he does so without begrudging individual people.

Lately, one particular leveraging of Nintendo’s and The Pokémon Company’s prized intellectual property has drawn the lion’s share of that criticism. “Gee,” you say, “whatever could it be?” I thank you for playing along, dear Reader, despite knowing full well it’s Pokémon GO because of course it fucking is. Looking ahead to the upcoming New Year’s in-game event, Merrick had this to say:

I really hate being negative, but the Pokémon GO events are really getting worse. Spawns are getting worse, with new Pokémon routinely not being put in the wild. Heck, even costume Pokémon aren't typically in the wild but Eggs and Raids now, as seen in tomorrow's event. It's not good.

There’s a theme emerging here. Instead of offering a rewarding base user experience, Niantic is locking its most attractive content—in this case, costumed Pokémon, which are a collector’s item and therefore appealing for their rarity (especially if Shiny)—behind a paywall. It’s not even pay-to-win. It’s pay-to-have-fun.

“Tomorrow’s event,” referring to Part One of the now current Holiday event, lives up to Merrick’s description. Dedenne wearing holiday attire, the debut centerpiece of the promotion and a key element of the seasonal artwork that loads every time you launch the app, only appears in Raids. Other returning swagged out Pokémon species are, as Merrick alluded to, confined to Eggs and Raids. Pikachu wearing a Winter Carnival outfit? Raids. Spheal wearing a holiday scarf? Eggs. Also, not for nothing, why is a Pichu with “summer flair” in the mix? Like, I get that it’s summer in other parts of the world, but having this appear alongside Pokémon in red coats with white trim is a thematic mess.

In all, while Delibird wearing a holiday ribbon and Sandygast, now available as a Shiny encounter, are featured wild spawns, the rest are gated content. And again, what does a haunted mound of sand have to do with the holidays? Holiday Part 1 is a confusing minefield of free and paid highlights. Even if I like a lot of what is accessible without a ticket, it doesn’t excuse the exploitative mechanisms at work that will undoubtedly snare Trainers looking to get some sense of value from their interactions with this damn game.

When even more positive forces within the PoGO community are telling you that you’re doing a bad job, that’s a problem. Niantic defenders might insist that if people like Matt and Joe Merrick have nothing good to say, as the saying goes, they shouldn’t say it at all. Not only are their criticisms fairly mild, though, sometimes you have to call it like you see it. It’s just that undeniable.