‘Pokémon Go’ Spring Update: Niantic Teases Co-Op Gym For 2017 Update

Pokémon Go fans are anxious for the game’s next big update and Niantic recently teased a little bit about it. In a thank you letter to fans, studio representatives mentioned “all new cooperative social gameplay experiences” coming this spring.

The note was posted shortly after Niantic was honored with an English BAFTA for best mobile game. That level of success, the letter reads, “is a testament to the game’s awesome and supportive community.”

Niantic apparently intends to serve that group with its forthcoming update. Unfortunately, however, we don’t know much more beyond that in an official capacity. There’s been lots of discussion surrounding an overhaul of Pokémon Go’s current gym system, but it has yet to be revealed precisely what that entails.

One outlet for possible clues, however, is a recent data mine conducted by folks on the Pokémon Go developer Discord channel. While there are many strings in the mix, there are two key changes worth noting. In the code, we see mention made to “raids” as well as “hungry Pokémon.”

It’s the first of those two concepts that’s potentially the most exciting. On one hand, “raid” might relate to larger cooperative quests being added to the game. On the other, the term also carries some slightly more innocuous connotations too. The notification might just signal to players when certain gyms are under attack. In that instance, “raids” sound far less interesting.

The hunger feature seems a bit more straightforward to us. While still unconfirmed, it would appear that maybe hunger is a new maintenance factor required for keeping strong Pokémon seated at gyms. Trainers will assumingly have to surrender food items if they want their strongest monsters to stay in place. That factor seems small, but it has the potential to drastically change how gyms function. In general, it allows more players the chance to actively participate in the gym ecosystem.

Independent of large-scale improvements, Pokémon Go was recently updated across Android and iOS with bug fixes and minor text adjustments. We’ll likely hear specific news about these social co-op elements soon.

What do you think it means to bring new social co-op features to Pokémon Go? Are you hoping for massive raids? Tell us in the comments section!