The Niantic development team for Pokémon Go launched a task force several months ago to listen to several key community members about what they could do better to help improve the game. The task force has returned from having learned these details and plan to provide more developer updates in the future, improve communication, and provide additional seasonal global bonuses for all players.
Players can expect to see Niantic sharing a developer diary every month starting in October, detailing the latest priorities that the team is working on, upcoming events, and features they’re working on behind the scenes. The team also plans to hold regular conversations with certain community leaders that were started with the task force to ensure the direction of the development team remains positive.
Ahead of today’s Pokémon Go task force announcement, Niantic already shared that they would permanently expand the PokéStop and Gym interaction radius to 80 meters, which was a common practice during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this remains to be the big takeaway for the task force. Still, the additional communication with the community the development team plans to have in the future could lead to more positive changes, especially when more features are added.
Overall, these appear to be positive changes for players who have been frustrated with acquiring enough items to capture Pokémon or feel like they struggle with having their voice heard. These changes are not perfect, but they hint at a positive beginning for Niantic to make more bridges with the community over time.
