Pokémon Go players brace for ‘visual doomsday’ ahead of big Rediscover content update

Niantic teased something big coming to Pokémon Go soon, and now we know it is a set of updates for the game that will change a few visual and gameplay elements. This “Rediscover Pokémon Go” push includes an overhaul for the avatars that players are not happy about. 

Niantic has been testing several changes to Pokémon Go in limited markets. Over three weeks, some of these tests will be rolled out in the game as content updates that will impact certain gameplay and visual areas. This includes one change that somewhat replaces the trainer avatars designed by legendary Japanese character designer Yūsuke Kozaki with a new set of more customizable models. 

When the avatar changes rolled out to a larger group of players in March, hundreds of players spoke out against the new designs. They said “they look terrible” and don’t hold the same energy of Kozaki’s original work—despite others praising the variety of customization options. Now, the visual “doomsday” that those players were hoping Niantic would postpone due to backlash is set to release on April 17, with no sign of an opt-out option. 

This means Niantic is pushing this update live for all players to make these new avatars the Pokémon Go standard. Like other controversial changes, this will likely be met with more initial backlash from the vocal minority of players on Reddit who get whacked by the “ugly stick” while the wider playerbase takes things in stride and enjoys the new customization options. 

The best thing to hope for seems to be an eventual option to choose between these new designs and Kozaki’s originals because, as Reddit user NicKirby15 said: “I’ll always prefer the former, but I’ll eventually warm up to these.” But this comes with the worry that Niantic could charge for this option in the future.

For anyone unconcerned about the avatar update, three other pieces of content were included on the “Rediscover” roadmap. On April 22, a graphic refresh will add dynamic backgrounds to Pokémon encounters to more accurately show the biome in your surroundings. A revamped version of the Snapshot feature will be released on May 7, giving players a chance to take pictures with multiple Pokémon at once. 

Also dropping on April 22 is a new Rediscover Kanto event, which will see Pokémon from Gen I spawning more frequently across different biomes as a way to promote the visual refresh. This decision also has players a bit peeved since Kanto is getting another spotlight while regions like Galar get overlooked yet again.