COVID-19 pandemic

This article records all the actions taken by Niantic in *Pokémon GO* due to the global pandemic caused by **coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)**.

Initially, the changes to events only affected players in Japan, South Korea, and Italy. Unfortunately, the impact of the pandemic continuously increased through early 2020, leading Niantic to make decisions affecting global trainers.

## Changes to Items, Features, and Bonuses that are now part of standard gameplay

Increased distance from which Trainers can interact with Gyms and PokéStops
* Increased distance from which Trainers can interact with Gyms and PokéStops

The number of Gifts Trainer can carry is increased to 20
* The number of Gifts Trainer can carry is increased to 20

Open up to 30 Gifts per day, up from the previous 20
* Open up to 30 Gifts per day, up from the previous 20

Incense lasts for 1 hour, rather than the previous 30 minute duration
* Incense lasts for 1 hour, rather than the previous 30 minute duration

3× Stardust and XP for for first Pokémon catch of the day
* 3× Stardust and XP for for first Pokémon catch of the day

No walking requirement for GO Battle League
* No walking requirement for GO Battle League

Challenge any Trainer to battle remotely with a QR Code
* Challenge any Trainer to battle remotely with a QR Code

Trainers can battle remotely with Good Friends (1 heart). Previously, this was only possible with Ultra Friends (3 hearts) and Best Friends (4 hearts).
* Trainers can battle remotely with Good Friends (1 heart). Previously, this was only possible with Ultra Friends (3 hearts) and Best Friends (4 hearts).

Remote Raid available
* Remote Raid available

## Play Where You Are

Niantic published a site with motto **Play Where You Are** that included tips and notices about in-game features that are being changed and adjusted to allow Trainers playing at home. The website is available at: https://pokemongolive.com/en/play-where-you-are/.

## Early 2020

### Feature changes

On March 12th, 2020, Niantic announced a blog about couple of updates of gameplay experience and global events.

* Abra Community Day was postponed from March 15th to April 25th.
* Egg Incubator is 2 times faster
* Double duration of Incense with 50% discount, the spawn rate has been increased to 1 Pokémon per minute. This also includes the Meltan Mystery Box making it even easier to get Melmetal.
* PokéStops drop Gifts more frequently
* Pokémon habitats increase and more Pokémon are appearing in the wild

On March 23rd, 2020, Niantic announced more updates.

* 3× Stardust and XP for the first Pokémon catch of the day
* Daily open Gifts increased to 30
* Gift inventory increased to 20

Since March 31st, 2020, the distance for interaction with Gyms has been temporarily doubled, being able to spin the Photo Disc, participate Gym and Raid Battles. Since April 27th, 2020, the distance bonus is applied to PokéStops too.

Since April, 2020, Remote Raid passes were available.

### Raid Battles

Following Raid Battles were adjusted:

* Cobalion was available from March 17th to 31st (originally from 20th to 23rd, then 17th to 23rd only)
* Also applied to reward of GO Battle League
* Lugia raid was canceled
* Invites for EX Raid Battles were halted
* Legendary Raid Hour was canceled from March 18th until May 6th

### Trainer Battles

Following measures are taken when the Season 1 of GO Battle League started:

* Do not require walking or PokéCoins to unlock battle sets in GO Battle League
* Trainers can send challenge invites to their Good Friends, which normally required to be at least Ultra Friends

### Research tasks

* Select Field Research tasks that could be difficult to finish from home are removed.
* Shadow Entei was extended to the end of April.

### Shop special offer

There is a one-time purchase special offer for 30 Incenses in the shop regarding to this pandemic.

On March 23rd, 2020, Niantic announced the 1 PokéCoin bundles will be changed weekly.

*Visit List of shop special offers and promotions/2020 for a complete list.*

On April 6th, 2020, Niantic released a game code "EMRK2EZWLVSSZDC5" to give player 8 Poké Balls, 4 Golden Razz Berries and 4 Silver Pinap Berries. It was active until April 10th.

On April 25th, 2020, the Abra Community Day, Niantic released a game code "MDWC4SNGUFXS2SW9" to give player 20 Great Balls and 20 Razz Berries. It was active until April 26th.

### Japan, South Korea, and Italy

Addition measures are taken in these three countries since March 2nd:

* Trainers in the above countries can enjoy double duration of Incense with 50% discount.
* Do not require walking or PokéCoins to unlock battle sets in GO Battle League
	+ Receive more Rare Candies and have higher chance to encounter Scraggy and Legendary Pokémon

#### Raid Battles

Following Raid Battles were canceled:

* Nidorino and Gengar Special Raid Challenge in Pokémon Day 2020
* Darkrai
* Registeel and Cresselia as well as strong Pokémon in Trainer Battle like Skarmory, Swampert and Shieldon
* Giratina

#### Events

From March 2nd to 19th, the following events were canceled:

* Pokémon Spotlight Hour
* Legendary Raid Hour
* Mystery Bonus Hour
* Team GO Rocket Global Take-over

The event-exclusive Pokémon appearing in raids and in the wild of GO Battle League Season 1 Launch Celebration did not occur, but event bonuses still applied.

## Late 2020

In late September, Niantic announced updates to temporary bonuses. The following bonuses were modified after October 1st, 2020.

* Hatch distance returns to normal
* Increased effectiveness of Incense applied only while walking
* Buddy Pokémon brought Gifts only when the Trainer nearly runs out, only once a day
* Gift is not guaranteed from spinning PokéStops

The following features were announced to be permanent:

* Gift inventory at 20
* 3× Stardust and XP for the first Pokémon catch of the day
* 1-hour Incense duration

On November 19th, 2020, Niantic announced the return of the following bonuses to at least June 2021:

* Increased effectiveness of Incense
* Buddy Pokémon brings more Gifts each day, up to five gifts at once and up to three times a day

## 2021 onwards

On May 24th, 2021 announced the return of in person experiences.

On August 1st, 2021 Niantic updated standard gameplay changes to include additional updates added as part of the Exploration Bonus Updates (U.S. and New Zealand):

* Receive up to two free Raid Passes per day from spinning Gym Photo Discs.
* Benefit from increased Incense effectiveness while moving.
* Be guaranteed gifts when spinning PokéStops so long as they have not reached their maximum gift inventory.
* Receive 10x bonus XP from spinning a PokéStop for the first time.

On August 17th, 2021, removed New Zealand from receiving Exploration Bonuses.

On August 25th, 2021, removed the PokéStop and Gym interaction radius change from Exploration Bonuses and on 26th moved it from temporary change to standard gameplay.

Starting September 1st, 2021, all bonuses were set globally and connected to the current Season in Pokémon GO. These bonuses change at the beginning of each new Season, however some bonuses may roll over from Season-to-Season.

On October, 2021, the ability to invite friends to raids were implemented.

On March 30th, 2023 Niantic announced a nerf to Remote Raids. The price of remote raid passes were increased and a limit of five Remote Raids per day was set. The player Community answered with the HearUsNiantic movement highly criticizing the nerf. Niantic did not addressed the movement directly, but stated that will not revert the nerf.

## Events

Pokémon GO Safari Zones in St. Louis, Liverpool and Philadelphia were postponed. City explorer in St. Louis was canceled.

From April 2020 to March 2022 the Community Day has been named Community Day: Play at Home Edition featuring new bonuses, Special researches, event duration and time.

GO Fest 2020 and GO Fest 2021 were entirely virtual. Since 2002, GO Fest has a global event yearly.

## Trivia

* After the Gym distance update, a bug was causing PokéStops to appear as though they are within interactable distance when they were not. They were spinable but only message "Try again later." displayed.

## References

1. ↑ Updates to events: Abra Community Day. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-03-13.
2. ↑ Abra Community Day rescheduled for Saturday, April 25, 2020 *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-04-16.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Increased Daily Bonuses, changes to Gifts, and rotating 1 PokéCoin bundles. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-03-24.
4. ↑ Temporary changes to Pokémon GO: Gym interaction distance has been doubled. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.
5. ↑ NianticHelp. Trainers, we made the following temporary changes: - Doubled the distance from which you can interact with PokéStops to match Gym interaction distance. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-05-07.
6. ↑ Gamerant. Pokemon GO Remote Raid Pass Rolling Out for Trainers Worldwide. *Gamerant*. Retrieved on 2020-05-07.
7. ↑ Special Raid Weekends update—Cobalion and Lugia raids extended!. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-03-13.
8. ↑ Updates to events: Lugia Raid Week. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-03-24.
9. ↑ NianticHelp. Trainers, for community safety, we will be temporarily halting invites for EX Raids. Those who currently have invites will be able to complete their EX Raids, but for the time being, new invites will not be issued.. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-03-14.
10. ↑ Updates to events: Raid Hour. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-03-18.
11. ↑ Try out a new Remote Raid Pass during Altered Forme Giratina Raid Hour!. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-05-07.
12. ↑ NianticHelp. Trainers, for the next 30 days, we will be making the following changes for GO Battle League and Trainer Battles with friends:. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-03-14.
13. ↑ NianticHelp. Trainers, due to the current public health situation, we have temporarily removed select Field Research tasks from the game that could be difficult to finish from home.. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-03-29.
14. ↑ NianticHelp. Trainers, we are extending the end date for this month's Team GO Rocket Special Research, "The Shadowy Threat Grows," until the end of April, to allow for more time to finish the tasks and encounter Shadow Entei.. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-03-29.
15. ↑ Winter Box!. */r/TheSilphRoad*. Retrieved on 2020-03-13.
16. ↑ NianticLabs. For those unable to add us as a friend you can redeem this code in the in-game store (limited to one per Trainer). Stay tuned as we continue to work on features to help you help you play in and around your homes. EMRK2EZWLVSSZDC5. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-04-08.
17. ↑ NianticLabs. Surprise! Brain teasers are fun but so are free items! Here's a code for your #PokemonGOCommunityDay that you can redeem at https://rewards.nianticlabs.com/pokemongo/ until 8 am UTC on April 26 Left-pointing magnifying glassMDWC4SNGUFXS2SW9.. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-04-29.
18. ↑ 日本・韓国・イタリア地域における3月のコンテンツについて. *Pokémon GO Live Japan*. Retrieved on 2020-03-03.
19. ↑ NianticHelp. Nidorino and Gengar Raid Day has been canceled in Japan, South Korea, and Italy. Please stay tuned to our channels for updates.. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-02-29.
20. ↑ GO Battle League Season 1 begins Friday, March 13, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. PDT (GMT −7). *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-03-05.
21. ↑ Updates to temporary bonuses. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2020-10-02.
22. ↑ Looking Forward to Saying Hello World. *Niantic Lab*. Retrieved on 2021-05-24.
23. ↑ Exploration Bonus Updates Coming to Pokémon GO. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2021-06-21.
24. ↑ Covid-19 Event & Feature Updates. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2021-06-21.
25. ↑ Updates to Pokémon GO’s Remote Raids. *Pokémon GO Live*. Retrieved on 2023-03-30.
26. ↑ An open letter to Niantic from the Community - #HearUsNiantic. *TheSilphRoad*. Retrieved on 2023-04-04.
27. ↑ Niantic breaks silence on HearUsNiantic movement and Pokémon Go’s Remote Raid controversy. *Dot Esport*. Retrieved on 2023-05-18.
28. ↑ PokemonGoApp. The #PokemonGOSafariZone in St. Louis has been postponed.. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-03-13.
29. ↑ PokemonGoApp. The #PokemonGOSafariZone events in Liverpool, UK & Philadelphia, USA have been postponed.. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-03-18.
30. ↑ NianticHelp. Trainers, a bug is causing PokéStops to appear as though they are within interactable distance when they're not. This is a side-effect of the temporary interaction distance change made to Gyms, as we develop ways to join Raids from home.. *Twitter*. Retrieved on 2020-04-03.