Pokémon Go Developer Addresses Pay-to-Win Fears, as It Introduces Unprecedented $20 Premium Pass With Gold Bottle Cap That Boosts a Pokémon's Stats to 100%

Pokémon's iconic anime taxable tune talks astir wanting to beryllium the precise champion — but what if determination was a premium in-game point that could, implicit time, springiness your Pokémon a helping hand?

Well, arsenic successful the main bid of Pokémon games, deed smartphone spin-off Pokémon Go is acceptable to connection Gold Bottle Caps — uncommon items that volition fto you boost a creature's stats until it becomes a cleanable 100%, oregon successful Pokémon instrumentality language, a 'hundo.' But these items won't beryllium inexpensive — and seemingly won't beryllium disposable precise often.

Pokémon Go has precocious allowed users to prosecute with much of the game's activities remotely, and begun selling items that bestow the stat-boosting Lucky Friend presumption connected players erstwhile trading creatures. Now, the instauration of Bottle Caps marks different caller frontier for the game, arsenic thing that volition inarguably connection a gameplay vantage — better, stronger stats for the Pokémon of your prime — successful speech for your money.

The archetypal Gold Bottle Cap, singular, volition beryllium offered arsenic portion of a caller $19.99 lawsuit pass, GO Pass Deluxe: Ancients Recovered, which is acceptable to beryllium made disposable from Monday, June 23 until Sunday, June 29. Previous passes person outgo either $7.99 oregon $14.99, making this offering the astir costly walk yet. It volition besides beryllium the archetypal clip players volition person overlapping lawsuit passes, arsenic the monthly June walk volition inactive beryllium ongoing.

While a escaped mentation of the Ancients Recovered walk volition besides beryllium available, Pokémon Go's archetypal Gold Bottle Cap volition lone beryllium offered successful the pass' Deluxe version, which is simply a paid upgrade. The escaped walk volition see an brushwood with a Legendary Pokémon (one of the Regi family), 3 Pikachu wearing "dapper" costumes, positive Stardust, XP and different items. The paid upgrade adds Zacian and Zamazenta masks for your in-game avatar, positive premium in-game items specified arsenic Incense, an Incubator and Lure Modules, arsenic good arsenic that Gold Bottle Cap.

If you bargain the premium upgrade via your browser connected the Pokémon Go Web Store — extracurricular of the game, and truthful extracurricular of Apple and Google's pesky level fees — you volition additionally person 10 Max Revives, 10 Max Potions, 5 Premium Battle Passes, 5 Max Particle Packs, a Max Mushroom, and an Incubator. And past there's the adjacent much premium GO Pass: Deluxe: Ancients Recovered + 10 Ranks bundle, which unlocks the archetypal 10 lawsuit walk tiers instantly and comes with adjacent much Incubators erstwhile acquired via a Web Store purchase.

Pokémon Go's Golden Bottle Cap. (Detective Pikachu not included.)

While the afloat details regarding Gold Bottle Caps are being confirmed today, the game's assemblage has been expecting their announcement for respective months aft traces of the diagnostic were spotted by dataminers wrong the game's code. Various concepts for their implementation person been discussed, and fans person had overmuch to accidental connected however they expect the diagnostic to beryllium introduced, however overmuch it volition cost, and however it volition impact crippled balance.

Ahead of today's announcement, I enactment these concerns to Pokémon Go crippled manager Michael Steranka, who said the diagnostic had been designed to guarantee Pokémon Go arsenic a full would not go pay-to-win.

"We person been truly cautious with the plan for Bottle Caps," Steranka told IGN, during an interrogation held astatine the game's large Go Fest 2025 unrecorded lawsuit successful Paris this past weekend. "That's thing where, if we weren't thoughtful with the integration, it could truly destruct the system of the game.

"An point similar a Bottle Cap is lone going to beryllium disposable very, precise rarely," helium continued. "And due to the fact that of that, we don't consciousness that players volition beryllium capable to conscionable walk their mode to having the champion of the champion of everything. And adjacent erstwhile you get a Bottle Cap, it's really going to beryllium rather a batch of effort for radical to Hyper Train their Pokémon to get their stats up."

Once unlocked via the lawsuit walk and applied to the Pokémon of your choice, a Gold Bottle Cap volition statesman a caller feature, Hyper Training, that requires you implicit tasks to dilatory level your Pokémon's stats implicit time. Raising a Pokémon's Attack stat requires you conflict utilizing the Pokémon portion it is acceptable arsenic your Buddy. Boosting defence volition beryllium imaginable arsenic you fortify your enslaved with your Buddy, by playing together, exploring, and catching different Pokémon. Levelling up HP, meanwhile, volition spot you exploring alongside your trainee arsenic a buddy, spinning PokéStops, earning Buddy Candy, oregon via different adventures.

The information that this further gameplay is besides required volition besides assistance support crippled balance, Steranka continued. "It's not thing that is conscionable an immediate, you know, walk wealth and past get almighty Pokémon benignant of a system," helium said.

Ahead of today's authoritative announcement, I spent immoderate clip astatine Go Fest 2025 chatting with players astir their thoughts connected the existent authorities of Pokémon Go, and of the previously-datamined proposition that Bottle Caps could beryllium introduced astatine immoderate constituent successful the future.

Amid immoderate excitement for the feature's arrival, a cardinal question I heard from fans was however often Gold Bottle Caps would beryllium offered — and the proposition they needed to provided sparingly, successful bid to sphere crippled balance, and besides to guarantee players ne'er felt continually pressured to walk money.

Today's announcement describes Gold Bottle Caps arsenic "extremely rare" and states that "obtaining 1 is simply a peculiar occasion, truthful prime your trainee wisely!" When asked however often Gold Bottle Caps would beryllium offered to players, Steranka said the nonstop frequence of their availability was inactive to beryllium announced. Still, helium confirmed, they would stay a uncommon item, and not different point designed to simply beryllium ever disposable via Pokémon Go's in-game shop.

Pokémon Go Fest 2025 successful Paris. Image credit: IGN.

In the past, Pokémon Go has offered the ultra-rare Master Ball point a fistful of times implicit the past fewer years — and this frequence is thing I heard a bulk of players saying they thought would beryllium fitting for Bottle Caps.

"I don't deliberation we're acceptable to stock the frequence that Bottle Caps volition beryllium available," Steranka said erstwhile I asked astir the nonstop availability of the point going forward, "but it decidedly volition beryllium 1 of the astir uncommon items successful the game."

As for the item's price, immoderate fans person rationalised a precocious outgo would beryllium apt owed to the sheer rarity of uncovering a 100% stat Pokémon via different means, specified arsenic paying for hundreds of chances to effort and brushwood the carnal done mean gameplay specified arsenic raids.

Prior to the announcement, players had wondered whether different forms of Bottle Cap would beryllium available, which possibly mightiness rise a Pokémon's stats by a fraction, oregon beryllium offered for free. That does not look to beryllium the case.

"Right present we're launching with the Gold Bottle Cap, and that volition alteration you to bid with a Pokémon to instrumentality immoderate Pokémon up to max stats," Steranka confirmed.

It's been a engaged twelvemonth for Pokémon Go, whose improvement squad present sits arsenic portion of Monopoly Go proprietor Scopely, pursuing the caller closing of its $3.5 cardinal buyout of Niantic's gaming portfolio.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social