Pokemon Go to Let Players Invite Friends to Remotely Raid With Them
Pokemon Go has announced plans for a new feature that will let players invite their in-game [...]
Pokemon Go has announced plans for a new feature that will let players invite their in-game friends to Raid with them, no matter where their friends are located. Earlier this week, Pokemon Go announced that an upcoming update would introduce two new features meant to strengthen the game's friend list features. The big news is that players will soon be able to invite their friends to Raid with them no matter where their friends are located. Players can invite up to five friends when they enter a raid, with friends receiving an in-game notification (or push notification if they have them activated.) An invited friend will spend a raid pass only once the raid starts.
The raid invite system potentially solves one of the biggest issues with raids, namely that it requires a group of players to all be at the same place at the same time. While some Pokemon Go communities regularly organize raid groups, the majority of players struggle to take advantage of nearby high-level raids. While Pokemon Go tried to fix this by allowing for "remote raids" during the COVID-19 pandemic, it's still a struggle for players that aren't connected to a Pokemon Go group to raid.
Additionally, players will soon be able to send stickers with gifts to friends. Players gain more stickers by opening gifts, and Pokemon Go will add more stickers through their in-game shop in the future. While it's purely an aesthetic feature, in-game stickers are popular in a lot of different games and seems like an easy way for Pokemon Go to make some easy money.
For a lot of Pokemon Go players (like myself), raid invites could actually mean being able to raid consistently for the first time in years. No longer will players have to hope that there's a cluster of Pokemon Go players in busy public places. Instead, they'll simply need to see if their friends can spare a few minutes to take down a Legendary Pokemon, which means more opportunities for raiding for everyone.
The new feature will roll out later this month.