Niantic Denies Revenue Loss After Remote Raid Pass Drama
After Pokemon GO players lashed out against unpopular changes to Remote Raid Passes, the Pokemon community pointed to a huge drop in earnings as a sign that Niantic should listen to its player base.
But now, Niantic is calling the Pokemon GO reports “incorrect.”
Mobilegamer.biz recently reported that Pokemon GO’s revenue reached an all-time low for the game in April of 2023. This made sense to Pokemon GO players since the game was facing massive backlash after Niantic announced there was a huge limit on Remote Raid Passes.
The attempt to get trainers back outside was met with boycotts and angry Reddit rants from Pokemon players, many of whom stated that the game was going to fail if Niantic continued to not understand its customers. For this reason, the report seemed accurate — and fans hoped it would be a wakeup call for Niantic.
Instead, the developer behind Pokemon GO has come out and stated that the report isn’t accurate. A spokesperson said: “We generally don’t comment on third-party estimates of our revenue as they are often incorrect, which is the case here. Our revenue so far in 2023 is up [from] last year.”
Niantic Happy with Remote Raid Pass Changes
It’s not a surprise that Niantic is attempting to simmer down the hysteria surrounding Pokemon GO’s unpopular updates. But this statement does not actually address April specifically. It’s still possible that the updates made in April resulted in a dramatic downward spiral in revenue as players started to boycott the game after a successful January, February, and March.
But Niantic continued, insistent that the changes haven’t actually been an issue. In fact, Niantic is currently under the impression that the Remote Raid Pass changes are good for the game’s player base.
They explained: “We don’t focus on month-to-month trends because they fluctuate based on major live events. This year’s changes have already increased in-person Raiding and we’re excited to introduce exciting new features over the coming months.”
This is most likely not a statement that will sit well with frustrated Pokemon GO trainers. Being forced to do in-person Raids has been the biggest source of aggravation over the past few weeks, even causing some Pokemon GO streamers to receive death threats for continuing to play the game.
As Pokemon players continue to fight back against the update, it will be interesting to see if Niantic has a change of heart. But for now, the developer is under the impression that the updates are a success as it continues to see more and more gamers socializing and completing tasks outside together.
For Niantic to assume this is what the majority of gamers desire could very well become its downfall. But only time will tell if the reports were true and if the trend continues.
Olivia is a long-time esports journalist and editor who covers just about every game but has a deep love for the FGC. Her goal is to find community-driven stories that bring a new perspective to the esports scene. In the past, she has worked for Team Liquid, Rogue, Inven Global, Dot Esports, Upcomer, and more. Outside of esports, Olivia enjoys Kirby, Pokemon TCG, Fallout, and writing science fiction. She can be found trying out new foods, traveling, or hanging out with her two orange cats. Fun fact: Olivia can do some video game and cartoon impressions!