How to get Remote Raid Passes in Pokemon GO? (January 2023)

Raids are one of Pokemon GO's most rewarding forms of gameplay. It gives players the ultimate challenge to test their mettle against an opponent while rewarding the victors with a powerful creature. However, Niantic's mobile title has become controversial regarding its raids due to the Remote Raid Pass, as it has been put behind a paywall.

These passes were introduced to allow Raid Battle participation without leaving home during the peak of COVID-19. Remote Raid Passes are one of the prized items in the game because players spend time prepping for battle. However, as time passed and the pandemic receded, Niantic decided to phase out free remote raid passes.

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Remote Raid Passes in Pokemon GO: Where did they go and how to get them?

Official artwork for Raid Spots in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

At one point, players used to get free Remote Raid Passes every week from the store. However, as the world heals from COVID, Niantic encourages its playerbase to venture outside into the real world. This will allow the company to gather a ton of location data that could potentially be monetized.

As such, it is much harder for players to acquire these Remote Raid Passes in Pokemon GO. Although rare, they are not missing from the game. Players will be forced to spend their Pokecoins, which requires a slow method of grinding to get, or real money to acquire a raid pass.

Remote Raid Passes are sold for 100 Pokecoins in the Pokemon GO store. 100 coins can take a minimum of two days to reacquire. To passively earn Pokecoins, players will need to defend Gyms controlled by their team from trainers on the other two teams.

You will gain access to this feature once your account reaches level 10. Then you will be offered membership to Team Instinct, Valor, and Mystic You can only pick one. This will also mark a point when players can begin engaging in Raid Battles. With this in mind, players can drop one of their Pokemon in any Gym owned by their team without claiming one.

For once, players in rural areas have an advantage as fewer trainers contest owned Gym Spots. Players earn a single Pokecoin every ten minutes as their Pokemon defends the Gym. If there are fewer players to contest ownership of Gyms, trainers will have no issue earning these coins.

With players able to earn a maximum of 50 Pokecoins per day, if the Gym that a player is defending goes uncontested, they will passively earn enough Pokecoins to buy one Remote Raid Pass in two days; quite the tedious grind for one raid attempt. This is how Niantic incentivizes players to buy these passes.

Players can purchase Remote Raid Passes from Pokemon GO's in-game store for around $1 each. This can be done instantly, whereas the free method takes two days. The fastest method is to buy Remote Raid Passes from the store since they are no longer distributed freely.