Back in late 2020, the maximum trainer level in Pokemon GO had risen from 40 to 50. What made these new levels special, however, were the new tasks that players had to complete alongside the normal task of collecting experience. This made these new levels much harder to reach than any of the ones before them.
Pokemon GO is growing at a faster rate with more players more easily climbing up the levels. Although the tasks for levels 40 to 50 are very difficult, more and more strategies surrounding how to tackle them are appearing, as well as more players completing them.
Although it took until January of 2021 for the first player to reach level 50, more players have since caught up. Once again there are multiple players with no use for XP and no further goals to reach. Because of this, it may be time for the maximum level to increase once more.
The Possibility for More Level Rewards
As players level up in Pokemon GO, new special abilities are given to players, such as the ability to suggest new PokeStops. No such special ability is available for level 50 though, despite how much it takes for players to reach it. Upon making it to this level, players will get 50 Ultra Balls, 50 Max Potions, an Elite Charged TM, two XL candies, five incenses, five Lucky Eggs, five Super Incubators, five lures, and a special level 50 jacket for their trainer.
If the maximum level were to be raised to level 60, there is one item from the mainline Pokemon games that many players would want to see in Pokemon GO. This item is the Shiny Charm, and would be the perfect prize for going through even more challenges and collecting all the XP necessary for the task.
The Shiny Charm is an item that greatly increases the chance of players encountering a shiny Pokemon. It won't make it so every encounter is guaranteed to be a shiny Pokemon, but it will make the collection process much easier for any of the shiny collectors out there.
Tasks For a Higher Max Level
The completion of the tasks for the final stretch of levels will take most players months to complete. Tasks for these levels include catching 200 Pokemon within a single day, earn 300 hearts with players' buddy Pokemon, and reaching rank ten in the GO Battle league. Each level of course has four different tasks as similar levels of difficulty on top of the already existing XP requirement.
With how difficult these tasks are, it does pose a possible problem for if the limit was increased to 60. This problem is how could these tasks be made even more difficult without becoming impossible, or otherwise putting players in a pay to win scenario.
One of the first solutions to this problem could be that the tasks would just be moved to levels 50 to 60. This however begs the question for how this would affect players still in the process of completing these tasks and players have have already reached level 50. Would these players have to repeat tasks they have already completed or have to start tasks they were almost done with from the very start?
Another solution could be to just have levels 50 to 60 rely on XP, and not on any extra tasks. The problem with this solution though would be with how this would make levels 50 to 60 stick out like a sore thumb, especially if this route would be continued with further maximum level increases.
Looking closer at the existing level up tasks reveals another possible solution. In this case, more tasks would be created for the next ten levels, but they all revolve around mechanics not used for the previous level up tasks. This means that tasks surrounding mega evolution, battling against a new evil team, or other upcoming features to Pokemon GO can be used to keep the tasks fresh and still difficult to complete.
New Format for the GO Battle League
The GO Battle League has multiple leagues for players to participate in with the mainline ones mostly limiting entered Pokemon based on CP amount. With a Pokemon's maximum CP reliant on a player's level, the increase of max level will additionally increase the maximum CP of many Pokemon.
Out of all the leagues, the Master League is the highest with no proper CP limit for players to compete. Below it however is the Ultra League which has a limit of up to 2,500 CP per Pokemon. These increased maximum CP amounts however could cause a new league to form to decrease the gaps in Pokemon that compete in each league.
With some of the current highest CP amounts being in the 4,000 range, further levels could lead to a new league with a limit of up to 3,500 CP. Considering that each of the leagues are named after different Pokeballs, it is unknown what this new league would be named, but there are plenty of Pokeball names to experiment with.
Pokemon GO is available on Android and iOS.