Pokemon Go players have had enough after a recent in-game Max Battle event excluded a number of trainers.
Back in September 2024 when Pokemon Go finally introduced the long-awaited Max Battles, most players were genuinely excited about the new inclusion. This new type of raid allowed players to take on Dynamax and Gigantamax versions of popular Pokemon and even let players use those mechanics on their own team.
Since the introduction of the feature, there have been a number of in-game events centered around these raids. The latest was a Max Battle Day featuring Gigantamax Lapras but this particular event has drawn criticism from players.
Unlike standard Raid Battles in Pokemon Go, Max Battles cannot be accessed remotely and require real-world travel to specific areas and at least 10 players to participate. These prerequisites have automatically excluded players who live in rural areas or those who don’t have an active local community.
Pokemon Go’s Max Battles are the wrong type of challenge
In 2023, Niantic announced planned changes to Raid Battles which limited the number of Remote Raid Passes that players could use. The developer said that incentivizing in-person play was “necessary for the long-term health of the game”.
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The result was that players in rural areas would not be able to participate as frequently and the introduction of Max Battles cemented this new direction with no options for remote battling. Niantic also recommends between 10-30 players to succeed in a Max Battle.
Players on the Pokemon Go Subreddit have slammed these requirements following the latest Max Battle event. The primary concern is that the real challenge of this endgame content is dealing with factors outside the game such as weather, location, and the strength of your local Pokemon Go community.
“I love this game, but Gmax has got to be one of the lamest additions to any game I’ve ever seen. What a slap in the face to the community, especially the rural folks,” one player complained. “My husband and I will probably never do max battles because of this,” another admitted.
Despite the backlash about reduced Remote Raid Passes and the in-person requirements for Max Battles, Niantic has said that the changes are going “exactly as planned”.
