5 reasons Pokemon GO popularity is dying (2024)

Pokemon GO is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game that has been popular for almost a decade. With it, Niantic has managed to build one of the largest and most consistent playerbases in the history of mobile gaming. However, recently, a lot of players have been frustrated with the state of the title. Many fans believe Pokemon GO has lost the oomph factor that made it stand out from the rest of the games in its genre.

This article goes over some of the reasons that could have led to the title’s dip in popularity.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinion.

Five reasons that led to a decline in Pokemon GO’s popularity going into 2024

1) Lack of new and exciting in-game content

Party Play has been underwhelming. (Image via Niantic)

The human mind has a tendency to lean towards things that are new and exciting. The objectives and features that Niantic offers in the game feel repetitive. Even with new additions like Party Play, there is nothing unique about features that are supposed to revitalize the game for players.

People who play this game are genuinely excited when Niantic releases a new generation of Pokemon, and there are a lot of new Pocket Monsters to catch. The same is true when new shiny beasts are released. However, it eventually feels dragged out and boring, and people lose interest.

Whether you want to build your shiny collection or catch strong monsters for PvP, the game only feels worth playing as long as there is a particular objective to grind for.

2) Niantic fails to execute new features without breaking Pokemon GO

Routes feature in GO. (Image via Niantic)

When Remote Raids got nerfed earlier this year, players were promised a lot of new and exciting features. The reality could not have been farther from the truth.

As of the writing of this article, Niantic has provided us with the following new features in GO:

Showcases
Routes
Shadow Raids
Party Play

While the folks at Niantic did add a few features to the game, they are far from being engaging and enjoyable. Not only are they subpar, but some of the new features do not even deliver what we are promised prior to their release.

3) Post-pandemic changes made to Pokemon GO

Cover for GO during the pandemic. (Image via Niantic)

The decision to revert the state of the game to how it is today was the single and most obvious reason that led to this debacle. During the pandemic of 2020 and 2021, GO surged in popularity, and a lot of the players who quit the game found themselves enjoying it again.

The pandemic helped build a massive community. With features like increased spawn and spin distance, increased spawn rate of wild monsters, and better value for Remote Raid Passes, people saw a lot of reasons to put time and energy into this game.

However, Niantic decided to change the pandemic-exclusive features back to how they used to be before. This decision single-handedly removed a big portion of the playerbase.

4) Boring in-game events

Pokemon GO events have been lackluster for quite some time now. Most featured Pokemon are reused from past events, which means that most players already have them in their accounts. As a result, there is a sheer lack of reasons to make people play the game.

Niantic also tends to make certain events region-specific. So, even if people want to participate in these events, there is no way to do so unless they travel to that particular place.

Costumed Pokemon events used to be a good way to make players grind, but that has changed in recent times. They have been available in most events recently, making them lose their vigor in the process.

5) Flawed decisions made by Niantic

Pokemon GO and Niantic logo. (Image via Niantic)

Niantic has the final say in how the game moves forward. Whether you look at new features or changes that would improve the quality of life of most, if not all, players, Niantic has always felt their decisions are the best. They have seldom taken into consideration the inputs made by the community.

For instance, Niantic's decision to change how Remote Raid Passes work in GO drove a big chunk of the playerbase away. After the pandemic, the prices for these passes went up, and the daily limit was lowered as well. As a result, people have been frustrated with the developers, and a lot of the players have given up on Pokemon GO as a whole.

Furthermore, Niantic invests a massive portion of its revenue into making new features for GO. Instead, fixing the existing issues within the game to make it more enjoyable could make people happier, thus increasing the number of active Pokemon GO players.

Current decisions seem severely detached from what the community wants, which is another big reason that has caused the popularity of this game to plummet going into 2023.