'Pokémon GO' News, Update: Niantic Makes a Major Raid Refresh, Social Media Support to Be Added?
As Niantic Labs continue to expand "Pokémon GO," players of the hit augmented reality game can expect quite a few changes.
In fact, the company's latest move leads media outlets to believe social media support is coming to the game. Just recently, the studio has acquired the social media startup Evertoon.
The announcement was made by Niantic Labs CEO John Hanke, who promised the Evertoon team will "bring with them a wealth of talent and experience in mobile products, tools for creativity, and community building." He goes on to say:
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Niniane and her team have been exploring innovative ways to add social mechanics to digital products. As our products and platform evolve, they will help build social systems that will benefit our entire community. We are also excited to have Niniane's engineering leadership and team management skills, as our team grows.
For now, nothing has been confirmed yet as to how the acquisition will impact "Pokémon GO," but considering it is currently one of its biggest titles in addition to Niantic's dedication to improve it, Evertoon will likely be incorporated in the game.
Apart from potential social media support, the more concrete addition that gamers expect to see is the arrival of more Generation 3 Pokémon. Niantic has started to bring in some with the next wave of creatures from Hoenn expected to arrive next month.
Meanwhile, Eurogamer is reporting that Niantic has made its first major refresh of the Raids since they were added in "Pokémon GO" a few months back.
This change, which was neither announced nor detailed by the developer, has shortened the Raid Battles from an hour to 45 minutes. It also shuffled the Raid Bosses, putting Metapod in Tier-1 with Porygon now at Tier-3. Golem, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, Poliwrath and Victreebel are now on Tier-4.
The "Pokémon GO" update also sees Ivysaur, Charmeleon, and Wartortle taking over for Gen 2 starter evolutions.
