Niantic’s new update will make changes to gym training, decreases evolution animation time (it was a bit long, I agree), adds catch bonuses, and tweaks to egg incubation. The new changes will be rolling out today on both iOS and Android devices.
Pokemon Go is still a pretty big contender, because even though it might not be as much of a worldwide phenomenon, it’s still pulling in $2 million per day. Niantic may be trying to either convince lapsed players to return to the game, or keep the more dedicated players engaged with the game by rolling out these updates.
The newest update for the game brings a significant amount of changes. It fixes audio issues, squashes some bugs, and decreases the evolution animation time. The new update also makes some bigger changes to the game that will be beneficial overall to the game’s structure.
First off, catch bonuses are being introduced. It players continuously catch a certain type of Pokemon in a row, they’ll be rewarded with some bonus XP. Maybe that will make the Rattatas and Pidgeys that crowd neighborhoods these days worth catching again, if the player doesn’t need them for Stardust.
In addition, the update is also making a change to how players train at gyms. The changes to gym battles were confirmed by Niantic last week, and will make it so that players can take six Pokemon into battle against their own team gyms. This allows people to level up gyms faster, making territorial holds a bit easier for the team of their choice.
The final major change coming to Pokemon Go with today’s update is in regards to egg incubation. Before the new update, players had to close out of the screen and reopen it to see the exact distance walked while incubating an egg. The game will now periodically update the distance itself while players are playing, eliminating a lot of frustration.