Niantic is Making Pokémon Go Max Battles Pay to Win With New Item
Pokémon Go is fully embracing Dynamax and Gigantamax Battles, but that means the best and worst parts of the game are also being forced into the newest core feature, including Niantic’s monetization practices.
Max Battles are like alternate Raids that only feature Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon, allowing players to challenge them with their own team—along with letting any Pokémon they have that can Dynamax. However, the difficulty in six-star Max Battles where Gigantamax Pokémon are found is already well documented, requiring large groups of players to work together in person for even a chance at winning.
Now, Niantic is giving players a way to make Max Battles a bit easier by introducing a new item, but in order to get the most out it, you will have to pay real money.
What are Max Mushrooms in Pokémon Go?
The new item Niantic is introducing to help players clear Max Battles is called Max Mushrooms.
These are items previously found only in Pokémon Sword and Shield’s Isle of Armor DLC, and they were used to help unlock a Pokémon’s ability to unlock its Gigantamax form if it didn’t already have access to it when turned into Max Soup. Additionally, using one in a battle could boost every one of a Pokémon’s stats by one stage.
For Pokémon Go, Max Mushrooms will serve a similar purpose in battle. Using one will amplify your Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon’s Fast Attacks, Charged Attacks, and Max Moves, letting them deal double damage until the timer runs out. If you use more than one Max Mushroom you can increase the timer’s duration—though the damage buff won’t increase.
And, while Max Mushrooms sound like they will be a great item to use during Max Battles if you don’t have enough players to challenge harder Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon, players are worried about how they will be implemented.
How is Niantic Monetizing Pokémon Go’s Max Battles?
Max Mushrooms are being introduced to Pokémon Go during the Gigantamax Lapras Max Battle Day event on Dec. 8. This event let players battle and try to catch Gigantamax Lapras for the first time from 2 to 5pm local time.
Gigantamax Max Battles can only be completed with in-person players and are much harder than normal Raids, meaning you will need more than a handful of competent Pokémon Go trainers if you want to successfully clear one. That is where Max Mushrooms come into play.
The only listed way you can get Max Mushrooms is via a $5 event ticket that will give you access to exclusive Timed Research and rewards—including one Max Mushroom. This is not a new way Ninaitc is monetizing Pokémon Go, as the company puts tickets or other item bundles that give players exclusive content in nearly every event that the game gets.
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Unfortunately, Max Mushrooms have also been found with in-game shop costs, with listings between 400 and 1,000 PokéCoins—meaning getting one Max Mushroom or a bundle of three will cost around $4.99 or $9.99 respectively. if you buy PokéCoin bundles
If ticketed content or purchasable item bundles are the only way to get Max Mushrooms moving forward, this will be yet another questionable step for Niantic in the eyes of the community, as it will essentially be giving paid players an easier way to clear some of the game’s hardest Raids.
Players React Negatively to Another Pokémon Go Item Drop
As Serebii webmaster Joe Merrick put it: “Oh cool, they've monetised the difficulty. Neat.”
Players have already dismissed Max Mushrooms, looking at the cost and effects and labeling it as “another money grab” that is “negligible” since it won’t actually make much of a difference to many players trying to challenge strong Max Battles.
Oh cool, they've monetised the difficulty. Neat. https://t.co/lUHD2zcj0l
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) November 26, 2024
“A lousy money grab item that is priced at $4 a piece and doesn't even compare to having ONE extra person to battle with you,” Reddit user Entire_Pineapple4732 said. “So if you happen to live in an area with no thriving playerbase, you need to pay for that if you'd like to participate in this content. This is not new, since Remote Raids are also more expensive than Premium ones. But unlike Remote Raids, the price of a Max Mushroom is LITERALLY MORE THAN DOUBLE THE PRICE of a Remote Raid Pass, and DOESN'T EVEN COME CLOSE to guaranteeing that you can win the Max Battle.”
Even the controversial Elite Raids can be handled by a small group of players, but Gigantamax Max Battles could require around 20 players to be at one location to successfully complete since you can’t use Remote Raid Passes, which many players in small or middle-sized cities call “near impossible” most of the time.
At this point, a large portion of the vocal online Pokémon Go community has written off Max Battles because they have so many barriers to entry. “Niantic is once again undermining the effort you put in the game with this item. Grinding and building Max Pokémon isn't really that rewarding if you can just open their wallet in the lobby and get strong Max Pokémon instantly and effortlessly. This is literally Pay to Win that doesn't help the players who'd need it the most, but at the same time manages to drop the motivation to train Max Pokémon even lower,” Entire_Pineapple4732 said.
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Not only are players generally disappointed in how Niantic is putting an apparent price gate on Max Mushrooms, but they are also questioning why the developers aren’t giving the item both of its’ existing abilities from Sword and Shield.
There could be a future update that gives players more ways to earn Max Mushrooms and use them to make Max Soup, which can give Pokémon who have a Gigantamax form access to it without special conditions. But until that time comes, this looks like another swing-and-miss for Niantic.
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