Pokemon GO's New and Returning Player Experience Isn't Great, But Niantic Wants to Fix That

It might be hard to believe, but Pokemon GO has been out for nearly a full decade now. While that’s a huge success story for developer Niantic, it also means the game has grown tremendously since its 2016 launch. Because of that, new and returning players are likely to find getting into Pokemon GO this late in the game a bit of a steep uphill climb. There is not only a lot of new content to sift through, but also plenty of gameplay systems that weren’t there in the beginning, and the whole experience can be overwhelming. However, Niantic has acknowledged that as an issue, outlining plans to improve it moving forward.

GameRant recently sat down for a chat with Vice President of Product Michael Steranka at the Pokemon GO Tour: Kalos event in Los Angeles, CA, where we inquired about the game’s current state as well as its future. During the conversation, Steranka pointed specifically to the game’s new and returning player experience as being a priority for the team, especially now that Pokemon GO is almost 10 years old and Niantic is already looking at adding another 10 years to its life.

Niantic Has Plans to Improve Pokemon GO’s New and Returning Player Experience

When Pokemon GO launched in 2016, the concept and gameplay were rather simple. More than anything else, it was introduced as an excuse to get people moving outside, interacting with one another, and sharing in the joys of collecting Pokemon through the emergent technology of augmented reality. For Pokemon‘s oldest fans at the time, getting into the game was presumably fairly easy, as they were not only well-acquainted with the idea of catching Pokemon and what doing so successfully required, but they were also familiar with the Pokemon themselves. But even Pokemon‘s newest audience likely found Pokemon GO an easy habit to pick up, merely due to its simplicity during the earliest stages of its life.

That simplicity is largely gone now, however, as Pokemon GO has expanded significantly, with over 930 distinct Pokemon species to find in the wild and seemingly countless systems to keep track of. From Buddy Pokemon and Field Research to Team GO Rocket encounters, Super Mega Raids, and Link Charges, there are numerous things new Pokemon GO players are essentially bombarded with upon entry.

Image via Scopely

Balancing Pokemon GO’s Aim for Longevity With Its Barrier to Entry

It’s not just the amount of content and new gameplay systems that act as a barrier to entry and reentry, though, but perhaps equally much that Pokemon GO‘s community is composed of a vast variety of players with different backgrounds, ages, and preferences. Because of that, Niantic has its work cut out for it in trying to make a game that appeals to the broadest demographic possible, but also in considering those who either have yet to play Pokemon GO or haven’t picked it back up in a while. When asked about how the game aims to better balance the entry experience of players at varying skill levels and backgrounds, Steranka replied:

“That’s probably the hardest part about a game that’s been around as long as we have. And not only that we’ve been around for 10 years, but just the sheer variety of players that we have in the game is vast. If you look around here at the beautiful Rose Bowl, you’ll see all walks of life—all ages, all backgrounds, and every person has something that they really love about the game that can be very different from what another person really loves about the game. So, trying to build an ecosystem that supports all of these people is very, very challenging.”

This is something that live-service games in general already struggle with, as attempting to maintain a game long-term produces constant tension between wanting to fulfill player requests, remaining aware of financial and technical limitations, and somehow simultaneously ensuring the game keeps its doors wide open to new players. For Pokemon GO, especially, a game that has remained committed to evolving with player feedback, it’s an even greater challenge.

Nevertheless, it’s something that Niantic is both completely aware of and willing to prioritize moving forward. In fact, Steranka was quite candid about his personal opinion of Pokemon GO‘s current new and returning player experience, choosing to label it as a fault that he sees himself rather than an issue fans have taken up with the game. The VP elaborated:

“I will say, I personally don’t think we have the right balance right now. And something that we’re really trying to think about as a team is what that new user experience looks like. When you see the Dynamax [Pokemon] on the map, and you just can’t beat it, that’s frustrating. So, we really want to improve that, and it’s going to be a major focus for us over the coming years—how we make a game that’s even more welcoming to new players and players who maybe played in 2016 and are coming back to the game for the first time in a decade.”

While Steranka never mentioned any specifics about how Niantic plans to lower Pokemon GO‘s barrier to entry, it’s undoubtedly refreshing for players who have longed to play the game for the first time or get back into it again in an attempt to recapture the same magic they felt in 2016. If Pokemon GO truly intends to last another decade, then smoothing out that first step back into the world may be just as important (if not more) as introducing the next big thing.

Super Mega Raids, new seasonal mechanics, and expanding Pokemon GO‘s PvP depth all give longtime players something to chase, but longevity depends on whether someone downloading the game for the first time in 2026 feels invited rather than overwhelmed. A game with nearly 1,000 Pokemon and what can feel like countless gameplay systems can still feel approachable if the path forward is clear. If Niantic succeeds in striking that balance, Pokemon GO‘s next decade may feel less like the steep climb it currently is and more like a shared journey that anyone can step into, no matter when they start.