When opening their Pokémon GO app starting today, players will notice a new icon popping up in their game’s main interface. It refers to the Campfire, a new social feature that’s being successively introduced to the game’s different servers.
Players have been requesting more social tools for years and their hopes were met with the reveal of this feature many months ago already.
And now, they can finally test it out. It’s a dedicated menu that allows them to find other players to connect with and engage in raiding or other activities. They can access their friends list and send direct messages, as well as start group chats. They can also easily share Raid locations to meet up and complete the content together.
The Campfire app also includes a Lighting Flare feature to encourage nearby players to complete specific Raids. Gyms and Raids now feature chats where players can ask if others are willing to come and help them complete them. If they don’t see any answer, they can light up a flare to indicate they’re going to complete the activity. It will send a notification to nearby players.
Players can also use some other ways to interact with each other, such as sharing cards of Pokémon they’ve caught.
This social feature is part of the global direction Niantic has taken following the shift to a remote playstyle caused by the global pandemic. The developer has been rolling out multiple features and tweaks to favor the return of full in-person playstyle in Pokémon GO.
Some of them stirred heated debate in the community, such as further limits applied to the game’s Remote Raid Passes that are implemented today as well. Their cost increased from 100 Pokécoins to 195 (with bundles of three for 525 coins instead of 300) earlier today.
Additionally, players now can’t use over five Remote passes a day. The developer is in troubled waters, as many players called for a strike or vowed to uninstall the game as long as the changes aren’t reversed.
Remote Raid Passes are convenient ways to play easily without going outside. It’s vital to the experience of players with impaired mobility or in remote places, which is why those limits are unpopular. The developer has yet to comment on the matter, however.
