"We need you to replace them with new ones": Pokemon GO players unimpressed with Global Referral Challenge

With the Astral Eclipse Event in Pokemon GO, Niantic announced a new challenge called the Global Referral Challenge. It will go on from November 21, 2022, to November 26, 2022, and is based on referring friends to join the game. The rewards are special bonuses depending on the number of people that join Pokemon GO via referral codes.

This was received negatively by Pokemon GO fans. With several prominent issues in the game, fans criticized the developers at Niantic for failing to fix them before starting a referral challenge.

Reddit user "u/Horror_Ad_2920" posted a picture comparing the current challenge against some major problems with the game, which garnered thousands of upvotes from the community. Below is everything you need to know about it.

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Pokemon GO Reddit community unimpressed with the Global Referral Challenge

The new Global Referral Challenge is based on referring friends to join the game. Upon referring to 50,000 Trainers, all trainers will receive a Lure Module via a bundle in the in-game shop. And upon referring to 100,000 Trainers, all trainers will be able to use Beast Balls. These Beast Balls come in handy while facing the Ultra Beasts in the Ultra Beast event's raid battles.

The developers at Niantic carefully crafted this challenge to add new players and increase the number of trainers in the game. The sheer number of needed referrals posed a turn-off for several fans, as achieving 50,000 and 100,000 referrals is a tedious task.

Many fans were quick to note several problems with the game in the comments box, with most claiming Pokemon GO has degraded over the years and it is a bad time for ex-players to come back into the game. Fans have said that they are being pushed to pay for event bonuses, have decreased time for community days, face severe lags, and encounter recurring issues that have repeatedly broken their hearts.

The silence from Niantic's side has disheartened the community. Several Reddit users can be seen doubting if the game will last any longer, claiming to transfer their favorite fighters from Pokemon GO to Pokemon HOME to save them. Many claim Niantic is making this worse intentionally, despite all the criticism from its fan base.

Players have also lashed out at unwanted changes and in-game updates and said that the lessened gaming experience means fewer gamers will return. They want Niantic to fix these recurring issues, but many others believe that will never happen. Niantic has a history of not listening to its fanbase, which was more evident with its recent announcement of community day runtime.

It seems the new Global Referral Challenge has gone off on a bad note with the playerbase. Looking at the needed numbers to complete the challenge, the community thinks it was never meant to be completed but rather a stunt.

All the comments in this Reddit thread hint at Pokemon GO's in-game mismanagement, and many have advised the developers to fix the issues at hand rather than look for new players.