Monetization is becoming a huge issue in Pokémon Go, with every event since the start of 2024 having some way to charge the player for extra benefits or items.
Not only that, but plenty of events lock Pokémon or encounters behind Eggs, which, if you are trying to get a shiny version, might require you to spend dozens of dollars in hopes of RNG gracing you with what you were after. The community has been disgruntled by these constant monetization practices coming from Niantic, so when Dot Esports met Pokémon Go Director Michael Steranka, we were canid to ask him about fans’ concerns about over-monetization and Niantic’s current aggressive strategy.
“Our philosophy for Pokemon Go is and will always be that we want the baseline experience to be free for players,” Sterenka told Dot Esports. “But we’ve also come to this understanding that there are players out there that who deeply care about this game and want to invest more into this game, and we want to give them that value to invest in.”
Sterenka went on to suggest that, despite offering all these paid incentives, the base game is still very robust for a free-to-play title and that what is usually offered for paid tickets are extra items or Shiny Pokémon that don’t he believes take away from the core free experience. He went on to hint that these options are for hardcore Pokemon Go players who are willing to drop their money into the game week after week.
“I can actually stand proud personally with the fact that we’ve been able to maintain that and Pokemon Go while also offering, you know, additional things that players who want to spend their hard-earned dollars on,” Sterenka highlighted.
Even with this, Sterenka did note all of this has been a “tricky balancing act,” and even at one point when he looked at the in-game shop and saw all the different things on offer, it was even hard for him to keep track of everything.
“There was even one point for me where I was looking through the shop, and I was like, Oh, wow, it’s hard for me to keep track of what ticket does what and where. The team is constantly trying to learn and adapt and almost experiment, right and evolve our strategies; you’ll realize that this season, there are fewer tickets and the previous season as an example,” Sternka said. “That’s something that will continue to evolve over time. But ultimately, we really want to optimize [the paid ticket options while] still offering a very robust and fun free experience for players who aren’t looking to spend in the game as well.”
