Niantic admits ‘we can do better’ with Pokemon GO

While there's no escaping the power of Pokemon GO, Niantic's mobile mammoth is struggling to keep a firm footing amidst growing backlash from fans and even public boycotts. Still being relevant after seven years is no mean feat, but now, Niantic is facing increased complaints from disgruntled gamers. 

Although Pokemon GO is a long way from its 232 million players in 2016, there are still millions who head out into the wild in an attempt to catch 'em all. Niantic has dropped the ball recently with its botched changes to Remote Raid Passes and accusations it's trying to grab more money with the Master Ball.

Niantic admits 'we can do better' 

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Although Pokemon GO got us through the pandemic alongside the likes of Among Us, we always knew things couldn't stay this way forever. However, we imagine few expected the Remote Raid Pass changes would lead to death threats. At least Niantic has admitted things haven't been great recently.

When discussing recent 'issues' at a hands-on event in Los Angeles, Eurogamer asked how Niantic plans on addressing an increasingly disgruntled player base. Speaking about the Sinnoh Lake Trip shiny spawn scandal, director of product management Alex Moffit admitted quality has been an issue.

"It was a technical bug in nature, but I do know with 100 percent confidence, our engineering team [are] super aware of the root cause," said Moffit. "The issue is resolved as we communicated, which is good." He continued, "But the broader point that I would touch on there: quality.

"Clearly it's an important thing and maybe not something that we've been the best at as of late - maybe throughout much of our history. And I can very confidently say that is something that we as a leadership team are echoing consistently from the tip top."

Niantic promises a brighter future or Pokemon GO

According to Moffit, there's been a "meaningful change" in the past 12 months: "There are some really, really smart people hard at work on like making things better, because we know we want to do better, we can do better, but it doesn't happen overnight."

Making some bold promises to players before they jump overboard like a sinking S.S. Anne, Moffit concluded, "The good thing is like a train set in motion. I think there's better stuff on the horizon." His words come after developer Ed Wu hyped a "blockbuster slate" of features for summer 2023. 

Alongside the Shadow Raids going live in May, there are the upcoming user-generated walking routes, the eventual arrival of the mythical Arceus, and a lot more. Niantic is saying all the right stuff and "being better," but whether it's actually true, remains to be seen.