With the update comes three big changes, two of which involve Gyms and Gym battles. The first big change, and one that might be more beneficial to the general population of players, is that Pokémon GO is going to start receiving Daily Bonuses. This might be significant in that it could get people to start signing into the game again, albeit even if it’s only for a couple minutes a day. While there’s no word yet on what these Daily Bonuses might encompass, they’ll hopefully be worth the extra effort of opening up an app.
The two big Gym changes come in the form of defeating Gyms members and leaders. Finally, after too long of a wait, there will be a brief period of time after defeating a Gym leader in which only you can place a Pokémon down at the Gym. This effectively eliminates the chances of someone else stealing your victory (unless of course you just walk away from the Gym). Also, the amount of Prestige lost when defeating a rival Gym member has been increased, while the amount of Prestige gained from training at a friendly Gym has been decreased.
Another interesting addition to the game, though not outlined by Niantic or the update, seems to be sponsored Poké Stops. According to Twitter user Holly Bowen, you might start seeing sponsored Poké Stops while playing Pokémon GO.
This is new. I just noticed the #PokemonCenter PokéStop has a "sponsored" tag on it. #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/DqfqCjw7A3
— Holly Bowen (@HollyBowenNW) November 6, 2016
Using a couple screenshots taken from within the app that she’s posted on her Twitter account, we can see that any sponsored Poké Stops will have a tag in the upper righthand corner labeling it as such.
We can decipher from the location tagged on her tweet that she is in fact in the United States, and while we can assume this is a feature that will roll or has already rolled out elsewhere, we can’t confirm anything. Also interesting to note is that the specific Poké Stop shown is a Pokémon Center, so it’s unclear if this is a feature limited to just Nintendo related Stops at the moment.
You can read up on the exact update notes below.
You’ll earn bonuses for the first Pokémon catch and PokéStop visit each day. You’ll receive a larger bonus when you do this seven days in a row.
When you defeat the Gym Leader at a rival Gym, there will be a brief period of time where only you will be able to place a Pokémon in the open Gym.
The amount of Prestige a rival Gym loses when you defeat a regular Gym member has increased. The amount of Prestige gained by training at a friendly Gym has been lowered.
Minor text fixes
Source via Nintendaan.
Written by George Comatas
As a wannabe social media personality and professional in the world of sarcasm, George does his best to always adapt to the changing world around him. He considers himself a maverick: a true-to-heart gamer with the mind of a pop star. Whether this makes him revolutionary or a setback, he's yet to find out. But one thing’s for sure; he's one-of-a-kind.
