When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, Niantic introduced Remote Raids to Pokémon Go, which allowed people to access raids from the comfort of their own homes. Remote Raids allowed people to continue playing during lockdowns and kept Pokémon Go alive during a time when people weren’t really going outside at all. As players’ focus shifted away from the pandemic, however, Remote Raids remained a way to make Pokémon Go more accessible for all, especially for disabled people and those who live in rural communities.
Three years after the pandemic began, Niantic is now hiking prices and putting caps on Remote Raid Passes to encourage people to play the game the way it was played before the pandemic — but the Pokémon Go community is pushing back.
Yesterday, in a blog post, the Pokémon Go team revealed adjustments to the way Remote Raids work, including substantial price increases for Remote Raid Passes and rewards for players who participate in in-person raids. The update will also introduce a cap on Remote Raids, allowing players to participate in a maximum of five per day, and will go live on April 6 at 11 a.m. PT.
Naturally, fans took to Twitter and Reddit to speak out against Niantic’s decision to make an accessibility feature… less accessible.
The push to reverse these changes has largely been led by disabled fans, many of whom rely on Remote Raids to play. AbleGamers senior director Steven Spohn referred to the price increase as a “disability tax,” noting that the update essentially charges some disabled players more to play in a way that’s accessible to them.
To summarize, Niantic is doubling the cost of playing Pokémon GO remotely, and limiting how much you can play.
This is what we call a disability tax. If you can’t leave your home or live in an inaccessible area, you can play, but it’s going to cost you, and you can’t play much. https://t.co/hDPj3QmACD
— Steven Spohn (Spawn) (@stevenspohn) March 30, 2023
“In this case, remote play is great for anybody that might prefer to play that way, but for someone who has mobility challenges or is unable to leave the house or lives in a rural/inaccessible area, it’s literally the only way that they can play,” Spohn said via Twitter DMs. “Limiting the amount of times that you can engage with raids to only five times per day is just limiting the content for the sake of trying to convince people to play a different way, but again, what do you do if you literally cannot?”
As pointed out by Kotaku, these changes also disproportionately impact people who live in rural areas where Pokéstops, Gyms, and raids are sparse. But fans with physical access to raids are up in arms, too. Reddit user octocode, who lives in a large city, simply prefers the flexibility and convenience of Remote Raids, which can come in handy for people with time commitments.
“I love the ‘go’ aspect of this game, but this system isn’t it,” octocode said via Reddit DMs. “This just rewards going to specific locations at specific times, there is no exploration involved. I just want to play on my own schedule.”
Beyond convenience, for some fans, the update even signals the loss of a community.
“Remote raiding has essentially changed my life,” Twitter user Qshinys said via DMs. “I’ve made so many friends around the world and here in the states because of it. With the nerf, I essentially can’t enjoy the game and play it with my friends anymore. It is absolutely too expensive.”
With a little than a week left until the update launches, fans are now convening to try to convince Niantic to change course. One Reddit user encouraged players to strike by not purchasing Remote Raid Passes and limiting in-person raids, while other players have started contacting Niantic and leaving poor reviews.
A now-removed post from r/pokemongo urging players to strike by not playing the game for a week. It has 6,900 upvotes. Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemongo/comments/126z3dk/its_happening_starting_april_6th_the_strike_is_on/
A few players are even quitting for good, or at least until Niantic reverses the decision. And some Pokémon Go fans, especially many of the game’s disabled fans, don’t really have a choice.
“Niantic needs to realize not everyone can just drop everything to go outside,” octocode said. “Sometimes we physically can’t. We need some flexibility.”
Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.