Many Pokemon Go players were looking for one last reason to boycott the mobile monster collection. When Niantic, a software company, released the nerf to Remote Raid Passes, it was the 'shot heard 'round the world' and the 'straw that broke the camel's back'.
After gradually removing several of the most lauded pandemic-era accessibility improvements over the previous year, this nerf triggered an outcry from players reminiscent of the 2021 reaction. Trainers also got together to mount another strike, this time in April, the day the Remote Raid nerf was introduced, as they did two years ago.
READ MORE
A dark Pokemon movie': Fans confused after Netflix drops gritty 'The Chosen One' poster
xQc criticizes Twitch as streamer claims purple platform is turning into adult site
Is boycotting Remote Raid effective?
One thing is certain: the Pokemon Go boycott was audible and travelled wide. #HearUsNiantic trended for several days in a row, prominent YouTubers in the community created bold videos on the matter, and a petition to reverse the Remote Raid adjustments received over 100k signatures. According to the Associated Press, April 2023 had the highest average monthly player count since May 2022. When compared to the previous month, the monthly loss was only 0.50%, a small dip by Pokemon Go standards.
In fact, four months in 2022 experienced a bigger reduction in players without the assistance of a rumored boycott. However, there are other figures that appear to demonstrate Pokemon Go's waning popularity. Pokemon Go witnessed an almost 50% reduction in maximum daily players in February 2023, falling from 9.1 million to 5.2 million. This figure has barely risen by 100k or so since then.
This demonstrates that, despite the same number of trainers check in on a monthly basis, fewer players access the app at any particular time during the day. A Twitter user posted, "Setting my signature boycott Pokémon as my buddy which is a level 50 hundo Garbodor that I caught during Sustainability week in 2021. Niantic, your game will die if you go through with the remote raid pass nerf."
Pokemon Go’s revenue
The revenue of Pokemon Go has been a point of controversy after the mobilegamer.biz list for the top-grossing mobile games in April 2023. Niantic rejected MG's allegations that Pokemon Go earned $34.7 million in April, its lowest monthly earnings since February 2018, DEXERTO reported.
Niantic rejected the third-party revenue estimate, claiming that revenue for the same period in 2023 was higher than in 2022. However, Niantic's annual income has been steadily declining since its peak in 2020. Niantic hasn't shifted since announcing this decision, and all signs point to 2023's Remote Raid boycott being a complete failure.
