Shadow Raids are an ‘evolution’ for Pokémon Go as Niantic works to incentivize players with new content

Niantic has been changing a lot of things in Pokémon Go this year, and that approach is not stopping any time soon as the game is getting several new mechanics to close out season 10—all centered around the introduction of Shadow Raids. 

Shadow Raids are not only an expansion for Shadow Pokémon and Team Go Rocket in the game, but it is also the next step in the developers’ plans to provide more incentives for players to get out and play Pokémon Go together. 

Related: Niantic doubles down on remote raid changes with new Pokémon Go Shadow Raids feature

This feature will be the first time players can get Shadow Legendary Pokémon through raids and will free those encounters that were previously locked behind Special Research or timed exclusive Giovanni rotations. It also extends to other Shadow Pokémon too, as Shadow Raids aren’t just going to be five-star spawns. 

“We’re always looking at what content we have available in Pokémon Go and want to make sure that players have the ability to get and access it,” Pokémon Go director Michael Steranka said to Dot Esports on May 15. “Up until now, Shadow Legendary Pokémon were kind of like you miss the rotation with Giovanni, you miss them for good. We’ve been really thinking about how to reintroduce a lot of these Shadow Legendary Pokémon knowing that they’re pretty exciting pieces of content.”

In addition to running things back with Pokémon like Shadow Mewtwo, which will be the first featured five-start Shadow Raid, this is also a chance to release the Shiny variants of these Shadow Pokémon too. 

For the foreseeable future, Niantic notes that the focus will be on running out the Shadow Pokémon already featured in Pokémon Go rather than using this as a method to introduce new Shadow Pokémon. Steranka also said that it isn’t locked in that the team will even use Shadow Raids to bring in new Shadow Pokémon, but it is something they are thinking about while going through this backlog. 

Shadow Raids are almost being treated as the next evolution of Elite Raids, including the lack of Remote Raid accessibility. But there are new elements being thrown into the mix for this content. 

A new set of collectibles called Shadow Shards can be used to create a special item called a Purified Gem. This can be used by players to“subdue” Shadow Raid Bosses that grow enraged in extended battles, a status that will boost their attack and defense. 

Using a Purified Gem will temporarily lower the boosted stats of a Shadow Raid Boss, and multiple players can use more than one Purified Gem at once to stack the effects. Using enough of them can even bring an enraged Shadow Pokémon out of that state, which is a dynamic piece to this content Niantic thinks players will enjoy engaging with. 

“Everyone on your team can use [Purified Gems], it can weaken Shadow Pokémon and there’s a huge incentive to use it and collect them throughout the event,” Pokémon Go senior producer John Funtanilla said. “The main driver for us is what can we do to give players something really interesting that will make them get out and play.”

Shadow Raids will become a fixture in part of Pokémon Go’s rotations now, especially where Team Go Rocket is involved, starting with the Rising Shadows event on May 22. That event will introduce Shadow Raids, the Master Ball, and bring an end to Pokémon Go’s season 10: Rising Heroes content heading into the next season on June 1.