Why was confetti falling recently in Pokemon GO?

As August comes to a close, Pokemon GO players may have noticed that confetti was falling from the game map's sky for a few days. While this confetti has vanished as of the August 28, some trainers may be curious as to why it appeared in the first place.

During Pokemon GO Fest 2022's finale, players found confetti falling during the festivities. While it didn't provide any bonuses, it was quite fun to see.

The confetti appears on occasion during the most major events of the game's year, which explains in part as to why it appeared during the finale of GO Fest 2022. It had appeared in the past as well, during previous GO Fests and other events, depending on their significance.

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Pokemon GO: Why confetti falls and when it might appear again

Pikachu celebrates in the confetti in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

While confetti appears during major Pokemon GO events, it's usually somewhat unclear as to when it will appear again, particularly unless Niantic confirms its arrival.

Since GO Fest 2022 has concluded, it may be quite some time before confetti arrives during another event. Niantic has announced a few events such as the Ultra Beast Incursion which began on August 27, but this particular festivity won't bring about the decoration.

The little falling pieces of paper tend to be reserved for more worldwide events centered around the community, as they fell for GO Fest as well as February's Johto Tour.

Pokemon GO releases special effects depending on the event in question. For example, during the yearly New Year's Eve festivities, fireworks are placed until the new year is heralded in.

Confetti itself tends to appear during community-based events or those that celebrate the history of the game itself, such as launch day anniversaries. Niantic may sometimes detail when they will implement confetti or other special effects when they release event blog posts on their main news site.

So when will confetti return to Pokemon GO in earnest? At the moment, it's unclear. It's a safe assumption to say that it will return to an event eventually, but it may take some time to do so. Summer events on the horizon likely won't implement it, and Fall events tend to use falling leaves as an alternative.

There's some speculation that confetti may return around the end of the year, but it's known for a fact that at least one event (New Year's) will focus on fireworks instead. Hopefully, the large number of events that Niantic introduces throughout the course of the year will allow said decoration to appear once again.

The developers are known to release multiple events over the course of a month, some more significant than others. While undertakings like Community Days or Spotlight Hours don't utilize confetti, larger-scale events may still do so.

Even though confetti doesn't assist players in a gameplay sense, it's still a nice decoration for the game's world while they carry out their adventures. A little added festivity makes capturing and battling Pokemon all the more special.