Pokemon Go New Year’s 2025 event proves Niantic needs to change
NianticPokemon Go’s final event of the year has finally been released, bringing players a three-day catchup event to help anyone who missed out on previous Pocket Monsters. However, rather than the Pokemon, all many can take from the event is how much Niantic needs to change in 2025.
New year, new Pokemon Go, hopefully. Pokemon Go is reaching its ninth year, and remains one of the most highly populated mobile games on the market right now. This is largely in part to the many events, added Pokemon, and of course the franchise it’s part of.
However, all that doesn’t make it immune to its fair share of criticism, and its New Year’s 2025 event has become subject to just that. Though, laced within the hatred lies one major issue, Pokemon Go needs to change in the new year.
Pokemon Go’s events are its weakest feature
The New Year’s 2025 event is essentially a ‘catch-up’ allowing players who missed out on the releases to grab them before the year’s up.
However, the community quickly slammed Niantic for its features, claiming that it’s offering “nothing new. Again.” and explaining that “they have to offer something more, especially if they’re a major holiday that traditionally has been a big deal in pogo.”
One user even revealed that “this is in the top 5 worst events” they’ve seen in Pokemon Go, explaining that they’re also a “Day 1 player.”
As previously mentioned, New Year’s is a huge event for Pokemon Go, and has been since it was released back in 2016, so for it to be a simple catch-up proves to be a huge disappointment for many. Especially those who (like me) hate repeated costumed Pokemon: “I feel like these are the same hats since 2021 repeated”
If the New Year’s 2025 event has proven anything, it’s that events are where Niantic falters. Consistently, the community slam its weak Pokemon, lack of new additions, overly simplistic costumes, or broken features, and consistently Pokemon Go releases events with those problems.
As Pokemon Go nears its 10-year anniversary, one thing is clear, Niantic needs to finely tune their events by dramatically decreasing the number of repeat Pokemon, ensure the bonues are worth enjoying, and ensuring that the events offer something new – whether that’s a new Pokemon fans have been calling for, or a brand new feature to spice up the game.