Niantic is going to test whether people would be willing to venture out during lunch hour for raid battles. Next week, Pokémon GO is launching lunchtime raids.
On March 13, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in users' local time zones, Pokémon GO will increase the number of raids. If this one-day trial is successful, Niantic might even consider making lunch hour raid battles a regular thing within the game.
Pokémon GO Lunch Hour Raids
"To give you more ways to enjoy Pokémon GO, we're trying out a new event called Legendary Lunch Hour!" Niantic wrote in a blog post. "The first Legendary Lunch Hour will take place on March 13, and with your help, we hope to make this an event you can enjoy every week!"
Battle Raids
Every seasoned Pokémon GO player already knows what battle raids are. A person who makes it far enough in the game to infiltrate a gym knows that sometimes, raid bosses show up. That's basically brawl time for trainers, a space where they can work together or outpunch each other. Ultimately, players then have to work together to defend the gym they're in. It's one of the staple mechanics of the still wildly popular augmented reality game, which first launched in 2016 to overwhelming popularity.
Pokémon GO players with day jobs can use the new Lunch Hour feature to battle it out during their break time instead of wasting away the hour isolated inside the breakroom. It might even lead to new friendships, who knows?
Pokémon GO
Although its frenzied reception has largely calmed, Pokémon GO is still pretty popular among Pokémon fans both new and old — and speaking of Pokémon, this is poised to be a big year for the franchise, with live-action film Detective Pikachu premiering in May, and the first Nintendo Switch entries, titled Sword and Shield, arriving sometime later this year.
Variety says mobile gamers worldwide have spent $2.5 billion on Pokémon titles, and in February, Pokémon franchises raked in a total of $58 million.
