5 reasons Pokemon GO is still immensely popular despite bugs and complaints

Pokemon GO is an enigma among mobile games. Most titles tend to fall off in popularity a couple years after launch, but Niantic's spin-off of its highest grossing media franchise is still a hot topic almost eight years after its initial release. However, the game still has its fair share of bugs and issues that many diehard fans of the title complain about frequently.

Here are five reasons why Pokemon GO is still a popular game regardless of its shortcomings.

Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer

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5 reasons why Pokemon GO is still popular today

1) Frequent content updates

Niantic still adds new content to Pokemon GO at a very consistent pace (Image via Niantic)

Like a lot of other online titles, Pokemon GO is kept alive thanks to the developers' frequent releases of new creatures, avatar cosmetics, and limited-time raid variants. With the looming promise of new Pocket Monsters always being on the horizon, long-time fans of the game have something to look forward to regardless of how long they have been playing.

Currently, even more critters are set to come to the mobile game. The remainder of the Ultra Beasts are set to make their debut later in May during another Ultra Beast-themed event.

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2) Rotating content

Raids are a huge factor to the game's massive success (Image via Niantic)

Pokemon GO features a series of rotating content, like Raid Battles and the parties of their NPCs that players can choose to fight. Raid Bosses always provide an enriching experience for those who train their creatures for difficult boss fights. Upon defeat, they reward a wide array of Legendary or otherwise rare Pokemon.

Team GO Rocket is one of the two methods players can go about finding Shadow Pokemon, creatures with their hearts artificially closed, resulting in a more violent species. These goons have themed events where every member receives an overhaul to the Pocket Monsters they use and ultimately reward players with upon defeat.

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3) Limited-time events

Pokemon GO features a bevvy of events that only effect live servers for a limited time (Image via Niantic)

Contributing to its massive popularity, Niantic's mobile game hosts a varied catalog of events that only take place for a short amount of time. These range from their 3-month long-themed updates, like the current Wonder of Worlds, to the very popular 3-hour Community Days, which highlight a single creature with a heightened shiny rate.

The title also features weekly mini-events, such as the Spotlight and Raid Hours. These events feature a heightened chance of encountering a specific creature or Raid Boss for an hour. While these Pocket Monsters do not feature an increased shiny chance, the mass number of critters that appear make it a preferred time for hunting Shiny Pokemon.

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4) Competitive play

The hardcore competitive scene for Pokemon GO is a large contributor to repeated play sessions for many fans (Image via Niantic)

Pokemon GO's Battle League hosts a competitive metagame, complete with a ranked ladder for dedicated trainers to fight alongside their strongest Pocket Monsters. The battling system uses a real-time input form of gameplay rather than the franchise's notorious turn-based RPG format.

While surely not every player's preferred way to play Pokemon GO, the game's competitive playerbase is so large in size that even the franchise's parent company officially recognizes it at every one of their official tournaments with a championship of its own.

The Battle League is also a great way to earn some premium items like Rare Candies and TMs.

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5) Transfering Pokemon to the Nintendo Switch

Pokemon Home is an application for mobile devices and the Nintendo Switch that allows players to store and manage their creatures from other games (Image via Niantic)

Many fans of the mainline video games have picked up Pokemon GO as a way to make completing their Pokedexes much easier. In the mobile game, a trade is not required to obtain many evolutions, like they are in the main series. Additionally, Raid Bosses typically have higher stats than standard wild Pokemon. These higher stats carry over into the main games as well.

Even when Niantic's spin-off title could only transfer creatures to the Pokemon: Let's GO! series of titles, many players used it as a way to receive version-exclusive Pocket Monsters like Bellsprout or Slowpoke, as well as trade evolutions like Gengar and Machamp.

With GO's built-in integration of the app, players can now directly transfer their critters to their consoles rather than requiring them to be captured again.