When stay-at-home orders and lockdowns first start popping up around the world in early 2020,Pokemon GOquickly adjusted its strategy for the spring and early summer by cancelling in-person events and rolling our a series of bonuses and features to make playing from home more enjoyable (and possible). Although some of those new features were permanent changes,like Remote Raiding, the majority of them were eventually removed later in the summer. Now, as cases begin to spike, Niantic is acting early and bringing back some play-at-home incentives once again.
This time around Niantic is bringing backsome of the same bonuses that existed in early-to-mid 2020with plans to keep them in place until at least June 2021. That is looking very far ahead and is a fairly surprising announcement considering that the previous round of remote bonuses inPokemon GOtook things month by month.
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The new round of safety features make playing without leaving the house much more realistic for players who don’t live in high spawn areas with lots of Pokestops or Gyms nearby. This means thatBuddy Pokemonwill be finding Gifts more often, Incense will once again be much more powerful, and a handful of other bonuses will pop up during events to make engaging with limited time activities more enjoyable without heading out into busy areas.
Bonuses Available Through June 2021
“To continue adapting to the changing global environment, and in response to the situation becoming more difficult for many of our players, we are returning the following bonuses to the game beginning Thursday, June 18, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. PST:”
Incense effectiveness will be increased, now attracting Pokémon to you more often.
Your Buddy Pokémon will now bring you more Gifts each day, up to five gifts at once and up to three times a day.
These bonuses are temporary, but they will remain in the game at minimum through June 2021. We’ll give at least one month’s notice before they change.
Additional Event Exclusive Bonuses
“Also look out for the following bonuses to show up during select upcoming events, making sure they have components that can safely be played regardless of your situation:”
Incubator distance reduction
Trade distance increases
1 PokéCoin bundles
And more
One exciting point about the bonuses is the mention of trade distance increases for upcoming events. This seems to confirm that the recent technical testing of the feature was laying the groundwork for it to be used as an event bonus from time to time as many players predicted. Withthe start of the Season of Celebrationjust days away, it will be very exciting to see some of these event bonuses activate for the first time and keep players engaged as the weather gets colder and safety concerns keep a lot of players indoors for at least a few months.
As trainers continue working through these amazing events and waiting for the GO Beyond update to officially arrive, they may want to keep hunting downthe best Unova Pokemon in the gameif improving their Battle Raid rosters and completing their Pokedex is their primary goal. Be sure to check back in the near future for morePokemon GOstrategy guides, news, and updates. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GOis available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices.
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