Pokemon Go players shocked as Remote Raids quietly buffed by devs

In a surprising development from Niantic, Pokemon Go’s Remote Raids received a buff, as spotted by savvy trainers in the Hidden Gems season blog post.

Pokemon Go Season 10, dubbed Rising Heroes, didn’t go down well with the community. Frustrations with bugs and underwhelming events have caused some trainers to lose interest in the widely popular mobile game. The greatest upheaval was the drastic nerf of Remote Raid Passes, a move that still irks many.

However, hope springs anew with the impending launch of Pokemon Go’s Season 11, named Hidden Gems. Set to begin on June 1, 2023, this new season promises a much-needed adjustment to Remote Raids.

Pokemon Go devs buff Remote Raid Passes

In the Pokemon Go community-driven subreddit, TheSilphRoad, astute trainers took notice of an important note at the bottom of the official Hidden Gems update page.

In the ‘Seasonal bonuses’ segment, Niantic revealed a major change: “Previously a temporary Seasonal bonus, the damage dealt by Pokemon participating in raids remotely will be permanently increased to the same amount of damage dealt by Pokemon participating in raids in-person.”

For context, Remote Raid Pass users previously inflicted marginally less damage in Raids compared to in-person participants. This differential only vanished during certain seasonal bonuses, reflecting Niantic’s subtle nudge for trainers to venture outdoors and play Pokemon Go beyond the confines of their homes.

Finally, Remote Raids damage has been permanently increased to match in-person Raids (previously a "seasonal bonus" until June 1st, 2023)
by u/TofuVicGaming in TheSilphRoad

Predictably, the community’s response to this news was mixed. While some applauded the change, others remained skeptical.

One Reddit user expressed surprise, stating, “Wow, didn’t expect that honestly. I really felt like they were going to nerf remote until it died.”

But there were those who considered the change too minimal, and perhaps too late. One player admitted, “I haven’t done and bought a single remote raid ever since they increased the prices. It has been great while it lasted but I won’t pay that much.”

Ultimately, this enhancement in the Hidden Gems update will only benefit those who continue to use Remote Raid Passes in Pokemon Go. Trainers can only hope that Niantic continues to introduce incremental improvements to cater to the game’s diverse community in the future.

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