Pokemon GO Teases New Features to Reel Players Back In

Pokemon GO has received a good bit of buzz this week. The app is now teasing a handful of new features to draw estranged players back to the game. Fittingly dubbed Rediscover Pokemon GO, Niantic has promised improvements to player customization, visual updates, a Snapshot upgrade to better capture exciting moments with your partner Pokemon, and more.

Announced on April 15 via the app’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, several updates will be released separately over the course of the next month. Starting on April 17, you can expect to see these changes brought to the mobile game.

• April 17 — Rediscover Yourself
  • Explore more style options and new ways to personalize your avatar.
• April 22 — Rediscover Your World
  • Ecologically accurate visual enhancements will be added to real-world surroundings.
• April 22 — Rediscover Kanto
  • Seek out the Pokemon of Kanto across various biomes.
• May 7 — Rediscover Your Reality
  • Use GO Snapshot to take photos with several Pokemon at once.

Is Pokemon GO Still Popular in 2024?

Niantic’s Pokemon GO app took the world by storm with its 2016 release, encouraging mobile gamers everywhere to get outside, catch Pokemon, take over gyms, and participate in regular events. The success of the app rivaled the mainstream popularity of Nintendo and Game Freak’s mainline series back in the ’90s, revitalizing the franchise in a big way. And, for the most part, the mobile monster-catcher has had similar staying power.

That said, player rates have certainly fluctuated over the last eight years. While the number of active players remained virtually stagnant throughout 2023, we’ve seen consistent surges and drops in 2024 so far. Trainers come and go with raids and other events, but current rates pale in comparison to the app’s 2016 numbers. At present, Pokemon GO boasts roughly 85 million active players. This is less than half of the mobile game’s 2016 player base, which peaked at 232 million.

Despite a clear decline over the years, the app’s average usage remains impressive. And if Niantic’s plans to breathe new life into the mobile game pan out, we might even see these numbers rise again. With regular updates and the addition of fresh new features, to boot, it looks like Pokemon GO is here to stay.

Head over to our Pokemon GO guides hub for the latest news and check out this April’s in-app codes for this month’s must-have freebies.