Image: The Pokémon CompanyPokémon GO has been in the headlines a fair amount recently after Niantic sold off its gaming division to Saudi-owned mobile specialist Scopely. But in some good news for fans of the AR game, the developers have announced that they're doubling the number of daily remote raids players can take part in. This looks to be a permanent change, and given the timing, you'd be fair in assuming that this was a decision made by Scopely. However, in an interview with Eurogamer, senior producer John Funtanilla has said that the decision came from the team: "It's entirely the leadership here, internally, and definitely 100 percent our decision to make these changes."Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube812kWatch on YouTube "These changes take a long time to get into the game," Funtanilla tells the publication, insisting that talks had been going on for "years" and that the timing is simply a matter of coincidence. Shadow Raids are also now accessible with Remote Raid Passes. I've been at Niantic for a good while, I worked on Shadow Raids and it's something we brought up at the time, we discussed it internally" Funtanilla continues, saying that — at the time, "everything was towards investing in communities and making sure we were expanding that gameplay," Earlier this year, Pokémon GO ran tests with the Shadow Ho-Oh Raid, seeing how remote raiding impacted player behavior. This was important because, to Funtanilla, "...there are a lot of micro milestones along the way. It's not something we can just flip on." There are still limits to the amount of Remote Raids you can do a day — it's now ten as opposed to five — because "The magic of Pokémon Go is still playing in person and meeting up in communities. It's always going to be the most cost effective way to play." Image: The Pokémon Company The reason for the increase, and allowing players to take part in Shadow Raids remotely, is down to the sheer amount of content in Pokémon GO now. The priority was always to get the content out there, and then see how players react to it. "For remotes, it's something we've always tried to explore" Funtanilla continues, "but those discussions could take years... And I think at this point it lines up with us expanding gameplay." So, despite the unusual timing of the update, the Pokémon GO team is insistent that this is their idea, and that the implementation of features like this just take a long time. Since selling its gaming division, along with the hugely successful Pokémon GO, to Scopely — which is owned by Saudi video game investment company from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (the same one that owns a stake in Nintendo) — Niantic has put all of its eggs into Niantic Spacial. Unfortunately, the company was hit by layoffs just last month. Are you happy with the increase in the number of Remote Raid Passes? Tell us down below. 68 workers will lose their jobs next month [source eurogamer.net] Related Games See Also Share:0 0 Alana has been with Nintendo Life since 2022, and while RPGs are her first love, Nintendo is a close second. She enjoys nothing more than overthinking battle strategies, characters, and stories. She also wishes she was a Sega air pirate. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment... Related Articles