Latest stats suggest significant drop in Pokemon GO remote raids

Pokemon GO Redditor NumeralJoker, on April 30, 2023, posted a series of screenshots to the game's official subreddit, showing metrics for the popular battle simulation app, Pokebattler. According to the numbers and trends featured for the range between April 8 and April 28, 2023, the usage associated with this application is in a very steep decline.

Pokemon GO has been steeped in controversy recently due to Niantic's stance on remote raiding. After this title's developers set a hard limit on the number of remote raids that can be played and increased the cost of passes associated with them, many players cried foul. This resulted in the #HearUsNiantic campaign, where several gamers boycotted the raid system. Now, the recent stats suggest there has been a tangible impact because of this.

The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. by u/NumeralJoker in pokemongo

In the comments, Pokemon GO players offered their thoughts on the remote raiding boycott's apparent aftermath.

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Pokemon GO players respond to decline in Pokebattler usage

The response to NumeralJoker's Reddit post was widely positive, but some fans also lamented the state of Pokemon GO after the remote raid changes were made. Players interpreted the declining usage of apps like Pokebattler as trainers departing the game and refusing to play it.

The aforementioned one is a third-party resource application that allows players to simulate PvP battles while also displaying counters for bosses that appear in gym raids. The steep decline in its use seems to suggest that many players aren't using Pokebattler to keep themselves informed, which may also point to fans no longer playing the game at all and not needing that app.

Several Pokemon GO fans remarked that these numbers might be the first sign that Niantic's bottom-line profits are being influenced by the ongoing boycott.

Comment by u/Warm-Cap-8970 from discussion The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. in pokemongo

Comment by u/Klied from discussion The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. in pokemongo

Comment by u/UnhappyJohnCandy from discussion The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. in pokemongo

Comment by u/NumeralJoker from discussion The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. in pokemongo

One player by the name of MonolithyK shared a stipulation stated by the developer of Pokebattler. It clarified that the data tended to skew towards hardcore users of the app and Pokemon GO, but that the severe decline in remote raids was accurately represented.

Given the release of shiny Tapu Bulu and the upcoming launches of Kleavor and Mega Pinsir, this drop in raid activity may spell trouble for Niantic.

However, the fact that Pokebattler tracks some of the most hardcore users in this game may mean that a large swath of fans are still participating in Pokemon GO and are spending money regardless of the change to remote raids.

Comment by u/MonolithyK from discussion The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. in pokemongo

Comment by u/pokemama005 from discussion The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. in pokemongo

Comment by u/East_Meet_253 from discussion The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. in pokemongo

Comment by u/Substantial_Heat_925 from discussion The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. in pokemongo

Comment by u/No-Kitchen-8623 from discussion The Pokebattler app lost half of its users in just one month. The first real data pointing to major declines in player activity. in pokemongo

Many fans pointed out that since Pokebattler's usage data does keep track of some of the most dedicated players, it may not represent the larger overall playerbase that doesn't use third-party apps as they play. Even if a few hundred thousand fans boycotted this game, there would still be millions that continued to play it and provide Niantic with revenue.

One could argue that the majority of gamers don't use third-party apps, so the decline in remote raids and Pokebattlers use, in general, only takes into account some of the most committed players.

Unfortunately, while these lowering numbers are disputable when it comes to impacting Niantic, the application itself is clearly taking a hit to its user count. This may ultimately spell out more issues for third-party app developers than it does for Pokemon GO. Hopefully, Pokebattler's developers can bounce back from this decline, and it remains to be seen whether Niantic is feeling the heat from its playerbase pushback.