Pokémon Go adds party play to Routes, and players are delighted

Pokémon Go Routes have been one of the biggest new features in the game this year. While Routes allowed players to enjoy more customized content, their absence from party play wasn’t unnoticed, and Niantic finally decided to remove those boundaries.

The change was implemented silently, however, and players who found out about the change let the others know through social media.

While many were surprised by the fact that Niantic didn’t make an official announcement for the merging of Routes and party play, fans were overjoyed as they would finally be able to experience their creations with friends.

Before the change, whenever players used the party play feature, Routes would be disabled automatically. Considering party play and Routes were a match made in heaven, fans argued they should be more incentivized to use both in their play sessions.

In early 2023, communities actively playing the game struggled to retain their interest as Pokémon Go’s Remote Raid Pass changes changed some core dynamics that the user base had gotten used to since the COVID-19 lockdowns. Despite getting released as a temporary fix, the feature quickly became a fan favorite.

Since then, the classic co-op experience in Pokémon Go slowly lost its appeal, but it’s now looking to make a comeback with changes like Routes that see players creating their own content, and Party Play that allows them to host and join instances.

If you already have a few routes waiting to be explored with friends, you can check out our Pokémon Go Party Play guide to learn how to host, join, and use Party Play Power. Future Pokémon Go events may utilize this feature even more with quests and research tasks that can only be completed in a party, while Routes make sure that you always have something new to do in the game in between.