2022 is already well underway, but Niantic has some big Pokemon GO news as it prepares to launch the next in-game season that will carry players through the end of winter and into spring. The mobile AR experience has survived this long thanks to its constant evolution and response to community feedback and it sounds like the developers are continuing that trend in the months to come.
The early 2022 Pokemon GO roadmap was revealed by Niantic this week and it is clear that the devs want the focus of the game to return to social interaction, exercise, and exploration. This shouldn’t come as a big surprise to players. A lot of the game’s early pandemic remote play features have already been nerfed (or removed entirely) and the shift back to real-world activities is already in motion.
What that means in terms of gameplay is quite interesting. Players can expect global events, GO Battle League improvements, new postcard functionality, seasonal updates, and some more unique Community Days. Whether that means more Community Day Classics or some other variation still remains a mystery for a while longer.
Continuing global events with Pokemon GO Tour
- After your enthusiastic response to Pokemon GO Tour: Kanto last year, we’re bringing the next iteration — Pokemon GO Tour: Johto — to Trainers on February 26 and 27, 2022. This year, Trainers around the world will be able to play wherever they are, and Trainers in Monterrey, Mexico, or Kaohsiung, Taiwan, will be able to participate in live events.
- Some of the new features for this year’s Pokemon GO Tour include GO Gym Trainers—each of which is inspired by a contest-winning Trainer from our community—that you’ll be able to opt in or out of battling once you’ve faced a certain number of them. This way, you’ll be able to choose between engaging in more challenging battles or shifting your focus toward other features of the event. On top of that, there’s new Masterwork Research featuring Apex Shadow Pokemon.
GO Battle League improvements
First of all, we’d like to sincerely thank you all for your support of the GO Battle League! We’re always working on refining the experience, and we’re currently prioritizing a number of updates and improvements—including urgent bug fixes—that we’ll share more about in an upcoming Dev Diary. Stay tuned!
Postcard Update
We’re so happy to see you all enjoying the new Postcard Book feature! We’re working on adding additional functionality, like notifications, sticker saving, an expanded Gift maximum, new Postcard sorting methods, and new Postcard notes!
Seasonal Update
We were happy to see that Trainers enjoyed both Hoopa’s mischief and the mystery of the door Professor Willow discovered. In the coming Season, we’re looking forward to sharing several seasonal Special Research stories with you, with a focus on smaller-scale adventures. Stay tuned for more details on what else we have in store for the next Season!
Community Day Update
The last two years have been hard on us all, and we are continually exploring ways to enhance the sense of community our Trainers feel around the world. Our first ever Community Day Classic was one such experiment, and we’ve also been testing community-hosted events on a smaller scale. We will continue to explore the concept of Community Day to keep our events fresh and exciting.
The March 2022 calendar of events and the next in-game season are likely going to be announced sometime within the next week. At that point, hopefully players can get a better idea about which of these early 2022 plans are arriving sooner than later. Those that don't appear on the March calendar will hopefully pop up throughout the remainder of whatever the mysterious next season is.
In the week ahead, we should learn more about what other events will be arriving during the final days of the Season of Heritage. Be sure to check back in the near future for more Pokemon GO strategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.