Excitement swept the audience Pokémon Go The community recently released news about an upcoming research mission featuring the mythical Pokémon Zarud. But it didn’t take long for the excitement to wear off. Why? Because Dark/Grass type Pokémon are locked into paid research.
Players, absent since 2021, were disappointed to discover that the only way to obtain Zarude was to purchase a Jungle Rogue Research Ticket for $8. Many in the community feel the price is too high, especially for a Pokemon that some consider to be just Pokedex filler. While I don’t agree with the latter – Zarude is a solid member of my team – I have to agree that Niantic’s pricing feels like a money grab.
Worse, the $8 you spend on a Zarude isn’t guaranteed to be worth your money. Still, and already owning one, I gave in to temptation just so I could have another one and give it a different spin.
Because I bought a research ticket, to some I was considered “part of the problem.” Granted, I used to happily spend money on Pokemon Go events, but now I’m a lot pickier. My switch stems from the rising cost of gaming—a trend that may not be reversed.
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Currently, the World of Wonders season is open and Wonder tickets are available for $9.99. To me, the price of admission is reasonable as it unlocks a ton of quests, items, and includes the debut of Poipole, the poison-type Ultra Beast.
Purchasing the Miracle Ticket is the only way to obtain this Pokémon because, like Zarud, it is locked behind Special Research. Niantic may eventually offer Poipole through raids, as it has done with its other Ultra Beasts, but the company has yet to announce any future plans for the Pokémon.
The ticket also comes with a Poipole Helmet for your avatar, a Premium Battle Pass, Lucky Eggs, Incense, Charged TMs, Eevee encounters and their evolutions, and other content as the season progresses. So, I have no complaints about Wonder Ticket.
There are also Pokemon Go Fest tickets available for $14.99. I also have no hesitation in investing money in this annual event. This two-day event offers a lot to keep you busy throughout the two days, plus there’s the possibility of catching new Pokémon, raiding new or returning Legendaries, and even areas not typically available in your area Exclusive content.
Also available now are $2 tickets to World of Wonders: Taken Over, a limited-time event focused on Team Rocket Go. Of course, the ticket doesn’t matter because whether you buy it or not, you can still participate in Giovanni and the special research to rescue Shadow Groudon. In other words, you’re buying the items just for the sake of it—but they’re not really that good.
Considering that opinions are subjective, some may find that Takeover tickets are a good deal. After all, it includes a Super Incubator (normally 200 PokeCoins) and a Rocket Radar (another 200 PokeCoins). The cost of buying them separately is the same, especially if you need both. There’s also a Pawniard encounter, which is a coveted black/steel type – if you haven’t hatched it umpteen times already. So, to me, everything included in the ticket was not worth the $2 (tax included).
Of course, some may say “you don’t have to buy anything.” They’d be right – Niantic isn’t forcing anyone to make a purchase. To buy or not to buy, it’s simple, right? My problem is that we’ve been bombarded with a lot of paid content lately. Eurogamer just posted an interview with Niantic discussing the issue.
To put it in perspective, this year alone – remember, April is only a few days away – if you purchased all the ticketed content available starting in early January (excluding Pokemon Go Fest tickets), you would be out $71 (if mine The math is correct). Battle passes or even season passes for most console or PC games don’t cost that much.
Look, I’m not against spending money, nor do I despise microtransactions. I’m happy to pay for substantial content like DLC or expansion packs, and I’ve spent a lot of money over the years on non-essentials like cosmetic packs, in-game pets, or new mounts. These trivial things are like a fun in-game treat that costs about the same as a fast food meal.
But I feel differently about Pokemon Go. The extra content and many of the shop items, especially the item boxes, struck me as overpriced. Yes, high prices are common in free-to-play mobile games, but the pricing for Pokemon Go item boxes might be a little silly.
Take the $60 Explorer Box, for example. Currently available for purchase through the in-game store, it contains 50 Incubators and 50 Super Incubators. The cost of a single incubator is 150-200 PokeCoins respectively. So while you might be surprised by the price of the box, $60 is still a steal since the incubator is overpriced.
But my point is, incubators shouldn’t cost that much. The same goes for remote Raid passes. It shouldn’t cost 195 gold for one person and 525 gold for three – especially since Niantic sets a daily limit on the number of ranged raids you can participate in. The shop also sells what some players refer to as bins. It’s filled with easy-to-obtain items earned by spinning discs at Poke Stops and Gyms, and opening gifts.
Pokemon Go has its problems. Some are technical, like the game not tracking kilometers correctly, shields not deploying, fast movement not activating no matter how hard you tap the screen, and a “you’re going too fast” notification popping up when you stand on the screen. In the middle of your home, there are others. However, the core issue is the business model.
Companies should absolutely be paid for their work. Free-to-play games require ongoing maintenance, development teams require salaries, and servers cost money to run. So while I’m happy to support games I love, pricing has to be fair.
To me, Pokemon Go’s current approach feels a bit over the top, with the back-to-back paid campaigns, Pokemon being locked behind paywalls with no stat guarantees, and inflated in-store item prices. Monetization is a double-edged sword: it can liven up a game by funding new content, but it can also be brutal on your wallet, and not everyone is a whale.
We hope Niantic can find a better balance that allows everyone to enjoy the game while keeping the office lights on.