Last summer’s app game craze Pokémon GO is still at it, and developer Niantic Labs has decided to overhaul one of the worst features: Gyms.
Starting tomorrow, Gyms will not be active on the Pokémon GO map. Niantic announced the temporary closing of Gyms on their support page, noting that any Pokémon players who are in Gyms will be returned to them once they’re back opened.
Niantic CEO John Hanke recently said that “improving gym battles” was a focus of this update, but that still doesn’t tell us exactly what changes to expect.
Though the details stop there, this remodel is still a welcome change. In traditional Pokémon games, Gyms are unique places to battle top Trainers and tough Pokémon. In Pokémon GO, Gyms have been plagued by monotonous battles and lackluster rewards. There’s been no true battling so far, and it’s sucked.
Even more frustrating, Gyms were quickly taken over by hackers and bots with overpowered Pokémon. One of the only real multiplayer aspects of the game can’t be fun when hackers run the scene. Most real players gave up on Gyms a while back.
Hopefully this Gym remodel will implement a system much tougher for hackers to get into and much more interactive for players. Hey, maybe next we’ll even get PvP trading!
We know the Gyms closing starts tomorrow, June 19th, but Niantic hasn’t yet said how long they’ll be disabled. We’ll let you know as soon as we know.
What new features would you like to see in Pokémon GO Gyms? Let us know in the comments.
