Niantic is reacting to the lack of shiny Pokémon opportunities for Pokémon Go Fest 2022, believing too many would spoil the overall experience

Pokémon Go Fest events are a time for gamers to celebrate the mobile game, but not everyone enjoyed last weekend’s virtual 2022. Many players reported not getting as many Shiny Pokémon encounters as in previous years, blaming developer Niantic for lowering the overall odds. Niantic has responded to those comments but doesn’t address the exact rates players want to know.

The comments come from Pokémon Go Game Director Michael Steranka, who spoke to the Pokémon Go community a few months ago about the backlash over Community Day changes.

“We recognize that some Trainers judge the quality of a Pokémon Go event primarily by how many Shiny Pokémon they catch,” Steranka said. “We’ve heard from Trainers sharing how lucky they’ve been this year in terms of caught Shiny Pokémon, while others have shared that their experience has been the opposite. If Shiny Pokémon are too prevalent, it will make the game worse in the long run. But we have heard a lot of feedback on this area and we are taking that into account for future events.”

Steranka’s statements don’t directly address whether the bright odds for this year’s Pokémon Go Fest event were any different than previous ones. However, Niantic’s final opinion seems to indicate that they would like to continue hearing and addressing these issues within the community.

While the past few months don’t seem to reflect that, as mentioned, much of the Pokémon Go community hasn’t been thrilled to see Niantic returning to pre-COVID-19 Community Day events and halving the time to attend. Additionally, more recently, Niantic seems to be slowly moving away from useful items, such as: B. the Remote Raid Pass item, which allows players to participate in a raid from any location.

Steranka also said, “The Pokémon GO Fest events are all about coming together for a weekend of fun catching, raiding, battling, and exploring. Ideally, the overall content of a given event makes you feel like the event is of good value – the special research, the bundle of in-game items like raid passes and incense, the global challenges, the spawns, the storyline, etc.”

Bringing the community back and getting them to work together has been at the forefront of these changes for Niantic. It’s the focus of Steranka’s recent Twitter post regarding the upcoming Deino community event on June 25th.

Unfortunately, this withdrawal from Niantic seems to value in-person communities far more than supporting online communities. Yet both are equally important; We learned this important fact following the global COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and throughout 2021.