5 things that Niantic should improve in Pokemon GO in 2025

Pokemon GO started off as one of the most popular mobile games of all time near its release, but as the game ages, many users have stepped away from the game due to a lack of interest or due to the abundance of recent non-user-friendly changes and new features to come to the game.

While Niantic appears to be embracing its free-to-play audience following changes made in January 2025's Community Day, there are many other areas in the game that need some serious improvements going into the new year. Here are five that Niantic should focus on.

Note: The following list is subjective and reflects the writer's opinion.

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5 improvements Niantic should make to Pokemon GO in 2025

1) Tone down the microtransactions

The recent abundance of tickets has been a hot-button topic among online communities (Image via Niantic)

While the free-to-play experience may be getting more rewarding, the sheer number of microtransactions present in the modern state of Pokemon GO has left a bad taste in the mouths of many users and has for some time now. Every event seems to have a purchasable ticket these days, with each having price tiers of $2, $5, and even $15 for some.

This issue has been rubbed in the faces of many players most recently with Niantic introducing Eggs-pedition tickets players can purchase once a month to gain access to Incubators, one of the few items that are not offered for free like Potions, Star Pieces, or Incenses. Creating a problem to solve a solution never does well with audiences, so this practice should be phased out in Pokemon GO.

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2) Bug fixes

Despite its age, game-breaking bugs are still present in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

Pokemon GO is an incredibly buggy experience, with bugs often causing items to be deleted, wild Pokemon to disappear, and outright crashing for many users who are not on modern smartphones. Despite being out for over 8 years now, Pokemon GO still remains filled with these bugs, with fixes being rarely released.

With Niantic also recently changing the visuals of Pokemon GO as a whole during its round of spring updates, as well as releasing seasonal maps, visual bugs are the most common type of issue players are likely to experience in the game. Knowing this, some optimization updates would be great to see as well.

Also check: Pokemon GO Evolution Calculator

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3) Improve the servers

2025's GO Tour is right around the corner, so improvements to the servers should be made in preparation (Image via Niantic)

The new year's annual Pokemon GO Tour event is close at hand, taking place in Los Angeles and New Taipei City. Users likely remember last year's GO Tour event, which was also held in Los Angeles. This event was met with horrendous server issues that plagued most of the users who showed up for this event.

With last year's rendition being so bad that Niantic had to make a public apology on social media and the game's official website, it is likely that Niantic has made some improvements on the servers in preparation for the next event, but fans have been unpleasantly surprised in the past.

Also check: Pokemon GO CP calculator

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4) Better wild spawns

Many online users claim Rediscover Kanto ruined Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

The lack of quality wild spawns is one of the most contributing factors to many long-time players suddenly leaving Pokemon GO. This can be attributed back to the Rediscover round of spring updates that brought Rediscover Kanto to the mobile game, amplifying the amount of Kanto Pokemon that spawn in the wild.

The issue with this is that Kanto Pokemon have been available in the game since its beginning. Niantic is introducing new monsters from modern generations, but most have been exclusive to events, likely to make way for the Kanto Pokemon. Niantic will need to greatly improve how they handle rotational spawn tables in order to retain their remaining playerbase.

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5) Rework Gigantamax Battles

Gigantamax Battles are the least accessible raids in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

Gigantamax Battles were added towards the latter half of 2024 and have been hot-button topics on social media since their debuts. These raids are advertised as the most difficult fights Pokemon GO has to offer, justifying its 40-player lobby limit. Being a harder variant of Max Battles, players are also required to attend these fights at their in-person locations.

As player numbers dwindle in many communities, many smaller towns across the globe do not have 40 active Pokemon GO players, which makes these types of fights downright impossible for many users. Adding remote access to these types of battles will solve most issues users have with them.

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For more information on the game, check out the articles below:

• Ditto disguises
• Sierra counters
• Cliff counters
• Arlo counters
• Giovanni counters
• Team GO Rocket Grunts