What Pokemon Go needs to learn from Pokemon TCG Pocket in 2025

Pokemon Go has ruled the roost in terms of mobile games based on Pikachu and pals, but in 2024, a challenger to its throne emerged, as Pokemon TCG Pocket is the one attracting love, while Niantic is often the source of scorn due to how its game has changed for the worse.

When Pokemon Pocket was first announced, fans were skeptical of its potential. After all, there have been several Pokemon Trading Card Game adaptations over the years, including on mobile devices, and some fancy card artwork wasn’t enough of a selling point.

The critics were proven wrong, as Pokemon Pocket has been a huge hit, helping propel the entire franchise to becoming Japan’s number-one entertainment brand of 2024.

The reception to Pokemon Pocket has (mostly) been positive, while fans constantly scrutinize Pokemon Go’s technical state and monetization. Niantic isn’t the only big Pokedog in the yard anymore, and it’s time for Pokemon Go to look at the competition and make some changes.

Pocket’s generosity puts Pokemon Go’s penny-pinching to shame

The Pokemon Company

The hardest part of enjoying Pokemon Go is the price tag. While it’s possible to play the game without spending money, you’re locked out of certain content that is tied to Paid Tickets.

This is to say nothing of the Remote Raid Pass debacle when Niantic took the best addition to the game in years, slowed down its distribution to a crawl, and jacked up the price. The best part of Pokemon Go was ruined by monetization. A simple act of greed, yet one players never forgot.

Pokemon Go is a game that recycles the same Gen 1 ‘Mons repeatedly while keeping the cool stuff behind cash gates. This isn’t to say the game should have no monetization at all, but the way it goes about it kills the interest in playing it, especially with how often Pokemon Go tries to put its hand in your pocket.

In contrast, you can enjoy everything Pokemon Pocket has to offer without ever spending a dime. The Premium Pass content involves aesthetic items, with no pay-to-win or mechanically exclusive cards locked behind them.

Players who love Pokemon Pocket and want to craft perfect decks in the now can pay cash and feel like they’re not being hustled at every turn. The free packs you get for daily log-ins, as well as the ability to unlock rare cards via Wonder Picks and Shop Tickets, are more than enough to experience everything.

When a game is fun and doesn’t feel pay-walled, players will feel better about spending money because they justify it being on something they love. When money is required for the best content or methods of making play easier, then they’re going to resent it, which is what’s been happening with Pokemon Go.

If Pokemon Go wants to win back the audience, it needs to rethink its pricing structure, especially when it comes to Remote Raid Passes. Time is precious, but money is as well, and it’s easy to lose a big chunk of your fanbase when they have to start paying too much to enjoy the product.

Pokemon Pocket’s respect for the player’s time makes you want to complete its events

The Pokemon Company

A common complaint about Pokemon Go is how limited some of its events are, both in terms of time and space. You’re going to need Dialga and Palkia’s help to do everything.

If you’re a rural Pokemon Go player, you’re going to be missing out on a ton of content, as so much is tied to Gyms. Max Raids almost fixed this by moving about, but they’re in-person only, like the Shadow Raids.

Considering how difficult some of the Mega Raids and battles with Dynamax Pokemon are, you’re going to need a local community of players to help beat them. If you live in the middle of nowhere, then a lot of Pokemon Go content will be unavailable to you.

We get that the point of Pokemon Go is for players to go outside and do stuff, but that’s not always feasible. People have jobs, school, family, and social obligations, making it difficult to drop things for a mobile game.

Pokemon Pocket lets you do everything online. You can collect all the cards and smash all the Emblem challenges while sitting on the toilet. The game never needs to interrupt your day, allowing you to enjoy it at your leisure.

Pokemon Go really needs to move in a direction that’s more accommodating to online-only players. In-person-only events should be scrapped ASAP, with all content being accessible with Remote Raid Passes.

Community Days also needs to be changed, considering how dissatisfied players are with their short duration. No event in Pokemon Go should only last for a few hours, as people are busy and can’t always attend them.

This isn’t to say that Pokemon Pocket is perfect. The game badly needs to speed up the pack opening and Wonder Pick animations, as it drags out the daily log-in process. But the fact that everything can be done online and with plenty of time to spare is a godsend and is something Niantic seriously needs to consider.

Will Pocket become more like Pokemon Go?

Dexerto / The Pokemon Company

The success of Pokemon Pocket might be the wake-up call Pokemon Go needs. If the voice of the community doesn’t change things (like with the Avatar change debacle), then seeing a rival in the same flourish might.

Of course, the opposite could also happen. If Pokemon Pocket starts paywalling content and forcing players to meet in person to engage in certain activities, then it will see the same backlash as Niantic’s game.

Hopefully, this won’t be the case. Pokemon Pocket found an audience due to how it made the Trading Card Game simple and accessible to play. Meanwhile, Pokemon Go keeps creating cash hurdles that get in the way of the fun.

It’s still early days for Pokemon Pocket, with only two sets to its name, but it has seen an incredible start, especially compared to other mobile games from the same franchise. It has a long way to go before it becomes more profitable than Pokemon Go, but the fanbase’s time and money are finite, and when faced with a product that respects both, it’s bound to turn away from the one that doesn’t.