‘Pokémon Go’ Finally Announces Christmas Event: Are Extra Egg Incubators And Santa Pikachu Enough To Keep Holiday Players Around?

Better late than never: Niantic has finally announced the details of Pokémon Go’s much-anticipated holiday update. And it’s… okay? I guess?

Starting Dec. 25 and continuing through to the afternoon of Jan. 3, PokéStops will grant players one single-use egg incubator every day after your first spin of the ol’ Photo Disc. With Pokémon Go ’s lack of a real endgame, hatching eggs is one of the few activities that help extend the game’s entertainment value once you’re past a certain level, so extra free incubators isn’t an awful idea.

To make the egg incubators more useful, players will have a greater chance of encountering eggs that will hatch the Johto region Pokémon recently added to Pokémon Go during this time period. These Pokémon include beloved staples such as Togepi, Pichu, Cleffa, Igglybuff, Magby, Elekid and Smoochum, making the egg incubating an even more fruitful activity.

Players will also enjoy an increased likelihood of encountering the adorable Santa hat Pikachu, who was only supposed to stay in the game until Dec. 29 but who will now stick around until the holiday event ends on Jan. 3.

Aside from the holiday event, Pokémon Go is also increasing players’ chances of encountering the classic starter Pokémon and their evolutions. Between Dec. 30 and Jan. 8, players have an increased likelihood of encountering Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, and all their evolved forms.

Lure Modules will also last for 60 minutes rather than 30 minutes during this time period in order to increase your chances of encountering one of these cuties.

This holiday update marks Pokémon Go’s third major event. For Halloween, Pokémon Go players had increased chances of meeting ghost Pokemon, and for Thanksgiving players enjoyed double experience points and Stardust.

In other PokéNews, the game has added over 10,000 new PokéStops in cahoots with Sprint and Starbucks, revealed the first set of Gen 2 Pokémon and launched on Apple Watch.

Are you excited for the new holiday event or is it too little, too late? Are you hoping for more impactful events and updates in the future or are you satisfied with Niantic’s efforts so far? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below.