"Pokémon GO" is set to launch the comeback of egg raids, along with the promise of new raid battles and numerous other features.
As fans of the augmented reality mobile game might know, the customary way of catching Legendary Pokémon is through egg raids that appear on top of gyms two hours before the start of a raid, which alerts players when the raid itself will happen.
The egg raid system, however, has been unused for a time — until San Francisco players recently reported about a Legendary Raid Egg at the Bay Bridge, with the added feature of a countdown timer for when the egg will hatch.
Originally, Raid Eggs would appear where the raid would take place. The idea was that a Raid Egg would give players time to tell their friends about the raid and gather them at the raid's location where it would hatch.
The system of encountering and catching Legendary Pokémon has been in a gradual state of change and experiment, which has resulted in a better game experience, thanks to software developer Niantic.
"We've only accomplished 10 percent of what Pokémon and Niantic are trying to do," The Pokémon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara told Bloomberg. "So going forward we will have to include fundamental Pokémon experiences such as Pokémon trading and peer-to-peer battles, and other possibilities."
Niantic is planning to add these features simultaneously with the next in line Gen 3 Pokémon and Exclusive Raid Battles.
Other features that the developers want to focus on is how to properly place geographically specialized Pokémon in all parts of the globe. For example, Ice-type Pokémon such as Abomasnow or Vanilluxe typically appear in cold countries. The problem is, players from tropical areas would have a harder time catching these Ice-types.
"We are always thinking of how to find the right balance between game design, how our Pokémon should exist, and how players feel about their collections," Ishihara added.
