How the Wild Area global event brings new mechanics to Pokémon GO and how it differs from previous live events

Pokemon GO is preparing to launch a new type of global live event, with several intriguing new mechanics and challenges in store for players. Live global events are a hallmark of Pokemon GOwith events like Pokémon GO Fest and Pokémon GO Tour offering players the chance to catch new species of Pokémon, try out challenging attacks, and receive special limited-time bonuses. As the game has grown in recent years, Niantic has looked for opportunities to expand these global offerings without exhausting its still-engaged fan base.

This weekend, Pokemon GO will launch its first Wild Area Global event, an event aimed at capturing the grandeur of Pokémon Sword and ShieldWild Area. The new event will feature several entirely new mechanics in Pokemon GOsome of which only last for the duration of the event and others which can be used permanently. These new mechanics help the Wild Area Global event stand out from other global events while also offering some teases about the game’s future direction.

To get an idea of ​​what the Wild Area Global event was like, Screen Rant recently spoke with Tiane Bella, Senior Manager of Live Events Marketing at Pokemon GO. Not only did Bella give us a preview of the new event, she also talked about some of the new features, how to make the most of the event, and talked about the general philosophy of how and why Niantic plans live events for Pokemon GO.

Wild Area adds new mechanics and unique feel to Pokémon Go

Mechanics like Go Safari Balls and powerful Pokémon make the Wild Area global event stand out

Screen Rant: How does the Global Wild Area Event differ from Pokémon GO Global Tour or Pokémon GO Tour Global?

Tiane Bella: Yes, great question. Therefore, Pokémon GO Fest is a celebration of unique mythical Pokémon. The event is themed around this Pokémon and, as you know, it is our big summer festival. Pokémon GO Tour is themed around a certain game from the main series or generation of Pokémon and really focuses on bringing that region and that game to life in Pokémon GO in a really unique way. Pokémon GO Wild Area is our newest big tier one event and is focused on bringing to life the excitement and adventure of the Wild Area from the main series games. This year’s focus is on our new Pokémon Toxtricity. Therefore, the event also includes an opportunity for trainers to choose whether they want to be Poison-Type or Electric-Type and a Special Research story that will take them throughout the event to hone their skills there.

Screen Rant: As part of this event, GO Safari Balls are making their debut. This is a new mechanic, and I was hoping you could go into detail about it and why Niantic decided to bring in these specialized Poké Balls. Obviously we had the Beast Ball, but it was very specific to Ultra Beast attacks and Safari Balls are more of a general item that can be used.

Tiane Bella: Yes. Just as the Wild Area features these very challenging encounters, the Go Safari Ball aims to help trainers better face and capture these challenging Pokémon they will encounter during the event. The team was very excited to bring this new Poké Ball and this new design to Pokémon GO and it also offers the opportunity to capture your Pokémon in a fun celebratory design for the event.

Screen Rant: So with the Go Safari Ball, there are more difficult Pokémon present in the event and one of them is the Mighty Pokémon that is being introduced for the first time. So what was the inspiration behind Mighty Pokémon and what are some of the best tactics for finding and capturing them?

Tiane Bella: Yes, so Mighty Pokémon are populating and debuting for the first time in GO Wild Area. And GO Wild Area was created to capture the feeling of venturing out on your trainer journey into this wild unknown and finding things you wouldn’t normally find, like challenges and powerful Pokémon. Then Powerful Pokémon have come to life to provide an added layer of challenge for trainers as they venture into their event experience.

Screen Rant: Speaking of Wild Area, there was a live component to GO Wild Area in addition to the entire global event. What kind of special features were present in the live event that differed from Pokémon GO Fest or Pokémon GO Safari Zones?

Tiane Bella: So GO Wild Area Fukuoka took place this past weekend in Japan, and we gathered thousands of trainers at my park zero. This experience was similar to GO Fest in that it was split between the Park experience and the City experience. The park experience featured photo shoots, meet and greets with mascots, giveaways and opportunities for these trainers, many of whom traveled from far and wide to participate, to connect, negotiate and enjoy the event together. And I think that’s what makes the events more special: the opportunity for many, many coaches to come together and play.

Screen Rant: Another exciting thing for the Wild Area Global Event is that Origin Form Dialga and Palkia are returning, this time with a new adventure effect. Could you talk about the new mechanic and what it entails?

Tiane Bella: Yes, so one of the many strong encounters that will be featured in the Wild Area is Origin Form Dialga and Origin Form Palkia. They are returning to five-star raids during IRL and the Global Event again this year, and will have the chance to showcase their adventure raids to the trainers who capture them during the event.

Screen Rant: And the adventure effects, which last beyond the Wild Area Global event, correct? This is a permanent mechanic, correct?

Tiane Bella: Yes, yes. If you have Origin Form Dialga or Palkia with its signature move, this adventure effect is something you can activate as long as you have the resources to do so.

Pokémon Go seeks to balance new events without overwhelming players

How Niantic decides when to add new global events

Screen Rant: So we have a number of new mechanics here for the Wild Area Global event. We haven’t seen these kinds of new mechanics being released in conjunction with Pokémon GO Fest, for example. I was curious to know why the decision was made to bring new mechanics? Adventure effects, which change the game for Legendary Pokémon if implemented for other Legendary Pokémon. And for Safari balls, there may be future events that may use other Poké Balls for a limited time with special effects. So why did Niantic decide to make all these new mechanics for the Wild Area event?

Tiane Bella: The team is always working on developing new features and improvements to the game. What we’re releasing for the Wild Area is what we think would really add to the experience and help trainers make the most of their time playing.

Screen Rant: So the intention is for the global Wild Area event to become another annual event like Pokémon GO Tour and Pokémon GO Fest? I

Tiane Bella: I probably shouldn’t comment on that. There is nothing confirmed at this time.

Screen Rant: Fair enough. So, let’s say hypothetically that the Wild Area event is a success, what is the preferred cadence for large global events like the Wild Area? Just in general? I was really interested in seeing a year-end event like this because we usually have one in the spring and one in the summer. Now, fans are getting one in the fall. Was it decided that there was too long a gap between the end of Pokémon GO Fest in August and the start of Pokémon GO Tour?

Tiane Bella: I would say less that there was an opening in the calendar and more that we were very excited about bringing a new concept to life. Definitely, with these events lasting several days, We don’t want to have too many together to allow trainers to pool resources and plan accordingly and not spend too much time, energy and bandwidth on their participation. So I think it’s important to have them in a good cadence, but we were really excited to bring this to the end of the year for the coaches to enjoy together.

Screen Rant: With live events in general, Niantic obviously has a lot of experience running these events. I was a little curious as to why the Wild Area event was only in Japan. We’ve seen Pokémon GO Fest expand to multiple cities and different regions, and we’ve seen the expansion of Safari Zones. I was surprised that we didn’t have a variety of different regions covered by the Wild Area. We only had that one in Japan. Was it just a decision not to try too hard with this first one or was there a deliberate decision to focus on one city and one city only to capture a specific feel?

Tiane Bella: That’s a good question. I would say never say never when it comes to future events and where we host them. This year in particular, we were very excited to bring an event of this scale to Fuokaka and that region of Japan where we have not yet organized a large-scale event, but you never know what the future will bring.

How you can enjoy Pokémon GO’s Wild Area global event

New event offers chance to return and offers returning players new challenges

Screen Rant: For players who haven’t played Pokémon GO in a year or two, what do you hope will bring them back to the Wild Area event?

Tiane Bella: I believe Wild Area GO Wild Area Global is a great opportunity for coaches who haven’t played in a while to come back. Allowing those trainers who are perhaps a little inattentive and haven’t enjoyed the game for a while, they will give them some powerful Pokémon to start attacking and perhaps participating in PVP. Additionally, there is new content and returning content. One of my favorites, the Snorlax costume wearing a cowboy jacket, will be making an appearance. Additionally, Pop Star and Rockstar Pikachu will appear in Pokémon Go for the first time in several years. Therefore, this event provides an opportunity for trainers to catch up and collect some powerful Pokémon and also collect Pokémon that may not have appeared before or for some time in the game.

What are three things current players need to do when participating in the Wild Area Global Event?

Tiane Bella: I think it would largely depend on their priorities and how they like to play, but I highly recommend them discovering some Powerful Pokémon and catching them in GO Safari Balls. I recommend getting together with the local community to play. There are many, many meetups happening at Campfire that you can find and organize there. The event will be best enjoyed with many trainers together. It is clear, this will be the global debut of Gigantamax Toxtricity, so I would recommend that they prioritize capturing one of them. Additionally, I highly recommend using Go Safari Balls when facing powerful Pokémon, which will make catching these powerful Pokémon substantially easier and Nanab Berry would definitely help as well.

The Wild Area Global event takes place on November 23rd and 24th in Pokémon GO.