Following the complete shutdown of Gyms within Niantic’s augmented reality video game, “Pokémon Go,” the developer has now published the official patch notes for the big update fans have been waiting for. According to the developer, the brand new update is currently rolling out to different regions for both the iOS and Android Versions of the game.
Update details
As announced by Niantic, update version 1.31.1 for iOS and update version 0.67.1 for Android are now being distributed to all players worldwide. However, everyone won’t be getting the update at the same time, which means that players will have to check, from time to time, if the update is already available within their specific area.
Raids and a new Gym
As previously predicted by rumor reports and speculations, the brand new update will completely be revamping the game’s Gym gameplay mechanics. Additionally, the update will also be introducing a brand new cooperative raid feature called “Raid Battles.”
Niantic has teased that successful raids “may” reward players with Legendary Pokémon, a feature that has long been requested by fans since the game was released. The developer has not yet outlined the specific details regarding the Gym revamp and the new raid, but they have revealed some minute details regarding the new features. Players will apparently now be getting new Gym Badges as well as exclusive items after successfully completing Raid Battles.
There is also an all-new “motivation system” added to the game’s Gyms, which adds a degree of strategy to the overall defending experience.
Additional features
Apart from the two big features added to "Pokémon Go," the upcoming update will also be including a slew of changes to the game’s user interface. Players will, now, reportedly be alerted of new Raids on their Nearby screen.
Pokéstops will also now have a new indicator that will inform players whether or not they have visited the particular stop before.
Another functionality that has been added to the game, which is actually a long time coming for veteran players, is the ability to search through a user's owned Pokémon. The new search function has different parameters for users to use including nicknames, species, Pokédex number, and type. The latter is especially useful for Raids and Gym battles. As an example, users can now search for all their Rock or Grass-type Pokémon to go against a defending Lapras.
