>>47788694What makes the situation funnier is that Niantic has the game right where they want it.
See, this reads like it was written by a raging GO addict, maybe a stupid wannabe streamer. Niantic makes more money from people who likely played with or without the distance incentives. Whales are either spoofers, or people who play during daily walks or major GO events. GOFest 2021 alone raked in US$20M (compared to GOFest 2020's US$17.5M). Remote raid passes make lots of money already no matter what they decide to do.
GO is not the kind of game that dominates a hobby. It's always been a supplemental activity that costs pocket change or Google Survey reward money for most people.
They've added sponsorship balloons. So even if people said "I'll play, but won't pay," they're perfect. They're product, now.
Likewise, some who say they may never give Niantic another dime may still use Google Survey Rewards for Android players. That money goes to Niantic, too.
It's true that GO players are listened to more than others; but they're about to get a nasty wakeup call in HOW they're responded to.
Clearly, these people haven't paid attention to Niantic's behavior towards previous, smaller boycotts. They'd fuck something up or take a feature away, announce that they've "listened", and put the feature back in, for free, alongside with a monetized incentive. They've announced that this is a game with a 20yr plan. With this being the fifth year, and Niantic toying with the idea of subscriptions, the timing of this shitshow feels exactly right.
