Pokemon Go Testing Big Changes to How Players Earn PokeStops

Pokemon Go is testing out some huge changes to how players earn Poke Coins. Pokemon Go players will soon be able to earn Poke Coins both by placing their Pokemon in gyms and by completing certain daily tasks. Daily activities will include everything from catching and evolving Pokemon, to using Berries, or making certain kinds of throws. Additionally, players will now be able to earn up 55 Poke Coins a day. Because players can get Poke Coins by completing certain activities, gyms will start reducing the number of coins earned by defending gyms from 6 per hour to 2 per hour. Pokemon Go will test out the new method of earning Poke Coins in Australia, before rolling out the features to players worldwide.

Poke Coins serves as Pokemon Go's in-game currency, and acts as both a "premium" currency that players use to buy premium items and upgrades. Players have been able to earn 50 Poke Coins from defending gyms for years, so this is actually a pretty massive departure from the game's traditional experience. Pokemon Go noted that they are making the change in order to help players comply with social distancing measures.

For many casual players, adding daily activities to Pokemon Go will give players a consistent chance to earn Poke Coins on a daily basis without battling in gyms or hoping that their Pokemon won't get immediately kicked out of gyms. However, it's a big departure from how the game has distributed gyms and de-prioritizes gym defending as a way to earn Poke Coins. While it'll be harder to collect coins from gyms, players may still want to capture gyms if they want bonus Poke Balls during Raid Boss encounters.

The new Poke Coin changes won't go into effect immediately, and Pokemon Go developers will be monitoring feedback before rolling out the new feature to all players. We'll provide more updates as they become available.