'Pokémon GO' Co-Op Gaming: Multiplayer Raids Against Powerful Pokémon Coming

By Edward Leano, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, June 22, 2017

"Pokémon GO" multiplayer features are coming bit by bit into the game, and although the much-awaited player-versus-player gameplay does not look to be coming sometime in the near future, players will be getting what could be the next best thing — large-scale battles against Pokémon bosses.

Multiplayer cooperative raids will start to arrive as updates are being rolled out "in the weeks ahead," as a beta version for players in the testing group, according to Kotaku. The premise for the new gameplay is relatively simple - nearby players will have to band together if they are to hope to knock down some of the most powerful Pokémon the game has to offer.

Unlike in previous Pokémon games, these boss battles will be fought in gyms. Once a raid boss comes up to a nearby gym, the usual gym functions are suspended, and any of the Pokémon assigned to protect the gym will be returned to their owners.

In that period, up to 20 players, regardless of their team, can join up to attempt to take down the raid boss. Raid teams who want to get a chance to capture the powerful Pokémon will have to take it down within the next five minutes — a feat that will require some planning and preparation.

Not just everyone can join a raid, however. Participants will need to spend a Raid Pass for each co-op raid they enter. Raid Passes can be obtained from gyms, and only once a day at that. The in-game shop also sells the passes for real money.

Niantic has posted more information about the new raids and gym updates in their news blog about the upcoming Raid Battle feature. Players will know that a Raid Boss will start to take over a gym when a large egg appears to hover over the gym location, according to their post.

"Before a Raid Battle begins, a large Egg will appear atop the Gym. When the countdown above the Egg reaches zero, the Raid Boss will be revealed," Niantic explained.

"After defeating a Raid Boss, you'll receive a collection of rewards, including some new items obtained only by defeating a Raid Boss: Rare Candies, Golden Razz Berries, and two types of Technical Machines—Fast and Charged," the "Pokémon GO" team added.