5 worst Pokemon GO moments of 2024, ranked

As 2024 comes to a close, Niantic has already showcased some of their plans for Pokemon GO for 2025 on their official website. However, the year 2024 was full of some questionable moments, according to many users online. This also caused some major disappointments to the community, likely causing many users to leave the game entirely.

With the developers showing promise for the free-to-play experience in 2025 with the Sprigatito Community Day's changes, the future does look promising.

That said, here are the five worst Pokemon GO moments of 2024 as a brief recap for the new year.

Note: This article is subjective and solely relies on the writer's opinions.

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Ranking Pokemon GO's 5 worst moments of 2024

5) GO Tour Los Angeles

Pokemon GO's GO Tour event in Los Angeles was met with major server issues (Image via Niantic)

As is seemingly customary with every major in-person venue for one of Pokemon GO's yearly events, the GO Tour celebration in Los Angeles was hit by severe server issues that would lead to the game crashing for many users. Some were even downright blocked from logging into Niantic's mobile title. Given the financial investment participating in these events takes, many were understandably upset.

These issues were so bad that Niantic issued public apologies on social media and the Pokemon GO website. To compensate those who purchased an event ticket, Niantic extended their effects for an additional day.

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4) Enamorus Elite Raids

Enamorus is an incredibly rare Pokemon who will likely only be available through these Elite Raids (Image via Niantic)

2024's Valentine's Day celebration fell flat, debuting Enamorus into Pokemon GO through Elite Raids. These Elite Raids have been subjects of controversy since their launch, as they require a large number of players to come together at in-person raid locations, which is unrealistic for most users amid dwindling player numbers and rural communities being isolated.

Enamorus has not been available since, and even then, the only form available is its less-optimized Incarnate form. Given Niantic's pattern with this creature, its better Therian form will likely be locked behind these Elite Raids as well.

Also check: Pokemon GO Evolution Calculator

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3) Max Battles

Pokemon GO's Max Battle system was slightly controversial during its launch (Image via Niantic)

At their launch, Max Battles were loudly disliked across online forums, with many criticizing Niantic's decision to restrict participation to other Dynamax Pokemon. While this has become less of a complaint as the roster of Dynamax Pokemon expands, many still hold disdain toward the new mechanic for its lack of remote access.

Participation in these new types of raids also involves Max Particles, which can only be collected from either purchasing them or from visiting Power Spots. This causes an even bigger issue with accessibility compared to the average Raid Battle.

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2) Gigantamax Battles

Gigantamax Raids amplify everything the community hates about Max Battles (Image via Niantic)

Gigantamax Battles takes everything the community hated about Max Battles and cranks it up. The massive difficulty spike of these raids makes them hard to complete with even small groups, leading to Niantic increasing the lobby size to 40.

Gigantamax Raids also require players to attend it in person, much like Elite Raids. They also require strong Dynamax Pokemon in order to stand a chance, which requires a lot of resource investment for the player. These large lobby requirements also further isolate rural communities with low player numbers.

Also check: Pokemon GO CP calculator

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1) Rediscover Kanto

Rediscover Kanto is the worst part of Pokemon GO's 2024 run (Image via Niantic)

Rediscover Kanto was a large portion of the Rediscover changes made to Pokemon GO during the spring of 2024. Rediscover Kanto started as an event, but also brought an update to the encounter table that would greatly increase the spawn rate of creatures from the Kanto region.

This quickly became an issue as creatures from the Kanto region have been available for the longest, being the first set of monsters added to the mobile game. This change has led to many users quitting the game due to its recent lack of interesting wild spawns, with its effects still being felt today.

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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