The new Pokemon Go Gen 3 update included more than just Pocket Monsters from the Sapphire and Ruby games.
It also launched Niantic’s new Weather Effects feature, which provides boosted Pokemon with better stats and Stardusts rewards, depending on what’s going in your area.
And the development have provided a few more details on how this new system will, and won’t, affect the game moving forward.
When it comes to upcoming Pokemon Go events, it appears that Weather Effects will remain separate.
Niantic have told The Express that they will not be adding in any extra bonuses when it comes to seasonal events.
We were interested to find out if there was any appetite to maybe do something new with Weather Effects, perhaps providing a Winter Week to fans so that everyone could grab some specialised Pocket Monsters.
This would prove helpful to those who lived in areas with less cyclical weather patterns, but it’s not something that Niantic are looking into doing.
Niantic developer Matt Slemon had this to say on the subject, telling The Express: “The most important things for us when it comes to the Weather feature is that we enforce it is an AR feature.
“This isn’t something we want to make up, so we don’t want to virtualise snow for instance, in Los Angeles.
“We want the weather (in Pokemon Go) to reflect what the weather’s like outside.
“That being said, if there are Pokemon that might spawn more often in the snow, you might still see them through events showing up because of the event, rather than because it’s snowing outside.”
Niantic have confirmed that they will be hosting a new Pokemon Go Christmas event this year, following the success of 2016’s campaign.
The development have revealed that there will be new fun things to do in connection with the upcoming event, with the aim to make last year’s bigger and better.
There’s been the suggestion that the new event will not launch until around December 20, which would roughly fit in with what happened last year.
Here’s the statement released by Niantic from last year’s festive celebration, including all the bonuses that were on offer:
“Don’t miss out on an increased chance to hatch a Togepi (and other Pokémon)! Starting the morning of December 25, 2016, and through the afternoon of January 3, 2017 (PST), PokéStops will award one single-use Incubator each day after your first Photo Disc spin.
“As you visit PokéStops during this time period, there will be a greater chance of finding Eggs that hatch Togepi, Pichu, and several other recently found Pokémon, originally discovered in the Johto region.
“Special Pikachu wearing festive hats will also be staying around a bit longer! You are more likely to find these limited-edition Pikachu during the time period of this celebration.
“In addition, from the afternoon of December 30, 2016, through the afternoon of January 8, 2017 (PST), the first partner Pokémon and their Evolutions, originally discovered in the Kanto region, are more likely to be encountered.
“This means a greater chance to catch Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur, as well as Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard, plus Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise! As a way to increase your chance to encounter one of these Pokémon, Lure Modules will also last for 60 minutes instead of 30 minutes.”