Summary
Niantic revealed a number of major changes coming toPokemon GORoutes in the near future. Its latest update is another attempt at a direct response to thefrustrations that somePokemon GOplayers recently expressed about Routes.
Originally introduced in late July,Pokemon GORouteswere meant to further incentivize exploration and deepen the sense of community among the game’s vast player base. The basic idea behind the feature is for players to share their favorite walking paths with others, who can complete them in order to earn Route Badges, XP bonuses, and a variety of in-game items. While braving a Route, players also have a small chance of stumbling upon a Zygarde Cell, which allows them to change the form of any Zygarde in their collection.
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In practice, the feature received widespread criticism from the fandom due to a number of limitations and idiosyncrasies that made it a frustrating experience for a vocal portion of the player base. After already making some adjustments in response to those grievances, Niantic has now outlined more changes that await Routes, having done so as part of its Out to Play event announcement. The newly shared list of upcoming tweaks is frontlined by a pledge to allow more trainers to create Routes, presumably by further lowering the current level 40 requirement for doing so. The developer also intends to up the frequency ofPokemon GOZygarde Cells that can be foundwhile following a Route.
A notification informing players when Routes are available nearby is also in the works, as are multiple other quality-of-life improvements, Niantic said. The developer’s latest announcement made no mention of a specific time frame, making it unclear when its planned changes to the polarizingPokemon GOfeature are slated to roll out.
While the outlined adjustments are likely to improve the overall availability of Routes, none of the promised tweaks will fundamentally change the way that players discover them via the Nearby menu. The ability to circumvent that extra layer of interaction and glance community-created paths straight from the overworld has been ahighly-requestedPokemon GOimprovement to Routessince the feature first launched in mid-summer.
The upcoming tweaks will add to the growing pile of changes that Niantic made toPokemon GORoutes in recent weeks. The studio already upped the overall number of globally available Routes, lowered the trainer level requirement for submitting them twice, and made the Nearby menu more informative by expanding its visible item limit and adding directional arrows to its listings.
Pokemon GOis available now on mobile devices.
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