Two years after release, publisher Niantic finally announced that trading and friends lists will be coming to Pokemon GO.
It’s a feature players sorely missed from the main Pokemon series, which has traditionally let two players exchange Pokemon. Back in July 2016, Niantic CEO John Hanke told Business Insider that “it’s kind of a core element”. Yet it wasn’t until E3 last week when a Pokemon GO developer described the game’s upcoming trading feature.
Trading in Pokemon GO will only work locally, within 100m of another player. “We needed to take into account how to introduce trading into this game where exploration and exploring new places is core to the game balance. We didn’t want to mess with that,” said Pokemon GO developer Kristen Koa at a Niantic lunch.
Here’s how Niantic describes trading in their press release:
Trainers will earn the Candy of the Pokemon received in trading, and that bonus can increase if the Pokemon traded were caught in locations far apart from each other. The Friendship level between players trading Pokemon will provide unique bonuses including Stardust discounts. Higher Friendship levels between Trainers will unlock the Special Trades option, which includes the ability to trade certain Pokemon, such as regional Pokemon, Legendary Pokemon and Shiny Pokemon, and add new Pokemon to their Pokedexes. Trainers who require parental approval and registration through the Pokemon Trainer Club to play Pokemon GO will be unable to trade with other Trainers in the game.
Niantic also announced that Pokemon GO will get a “friends” feature, which will grant players bonuses the more they play together. Players can only add friends by using each other’s “trainer codes”, something that might sound familiar to Nintendo Switch owners. That’s meant to keep it “safe and deliberate,” said Koa.
After adding a friend, players will receive bonuses such as Stardust discounts and special Pokemon trading depending on their friendship level, which improves when players fight at Gyms, do raid battles, or send gifts to each other.
Pokemon GO‘s “friends” feature should arrive later this week while trading will roll out sometime this winter.
Comments
6 responses to “Pokemon GO Will Finally Get A ‘Friends’ Feature And Trading”
This needed to have some sort of physical interaction either bluetooth or NFC or what have you. Soon you’ll be able to buy any pokemon you want from someone with a bot army. This actually looks like it would encourage bot activity.
I heard that it may randomize the IV. Though that may have just been a suggestion in my local chat.
No you’re right, it’s in the full press release;
https://pokemongolive.com/en/post/friendsandtrading/
If you look at the picture of the Pikachu at the bottom it shows that if you select to trade him his CP/HP will be somewhere between a range of values – because the level stays the same but IVs are re-rolled.
The requirement to do a “Special Trade” for legendaries, shiny pokemon, or pokemon you don’t yet have would seem to limit how effective that bot army could be.
It says you can only do one “Special Trade” a day, and you can only do so with people you’re friends with (so exchanged these codes), and levelled up the friendship rating (which will take multiple days, and multiple interactions).
That seems like enough rate limiting to make it inconvenient to trade with strangers.
That sounds decent.
Too little too late. What it really needs is ways to battle other trainers.
Add me on Pogo 0708 0947 7009 (From Germany) for trading Gift´s daily (for Egg distance maybe 12000km each!!!)
I’m a level 40 player in the US. Would love to add some Australian friends to exchange gifts with. Feel free to add my account 1998 5807 6878
I’m a level 39 player in Vienna/Austria/Europe (no kangaroos ;-)) ).
I would also love to add some Australian friends to exchange gifts with from the other end of the world. Feel free to add my account 8220 9468 6605
Hello, my son and me are trying to get to lvl 40 again. We are from the netherlands add us as a friend if you are from Australia ore New S. and we send eggs daily! (12000 km!) Our trainercode 4065 4897 1448
Thanks mates!