Pokemon GO Senior Director Discusses Gigantamax Launch Lessons Learned

In the long-awaited debut of the Gigantamax feature Pokemon Go Gengar recently launched with a trio of classic starters, Blastoise, Charizard, and Venusaur, as part of the mobile game's annual Halloween celebration. With so many Gigantamax Pokemon left, Pokemon Go There are definitely plans to hold more limited-time Gigantamax events in the future. The team at Niantic has learned a lot since the launch of the feature and plans to implement what they've learned in upcoming events.

Game Rant spoke with Michael Steranka, senior director Pokemon Go. Steranka praised the players' ingenuity and skill in tackling the first set of Gigantamax battles, which he described as an “endgame challenge” that could be more difficult than a standard Raid or Dynamax battle. However, he accepted that Pokemon Go Gigantamax needs to focus more on preparing its trainers for the jump in battle difficulty.

Gigantamax battles are a step up in difficulty

Gigantamaxing, a feature introduced in Pokemon Sword and Shield The games allow Pokemon to grow to larger sizes, take on new forms, and learn super-powerful Max Moves. Fittingly, there are Gigantamax battles Pokemon Gowho Biggest — Up to 40 Trainers can band together to battle a single enemy, with a chance to catch a Gigantamax Pokemon themselves if defeated.

Steranka says the biggest lesson Niantic took from the launch of the Gigantamax feature is that it's important to prepare trainers for how difficult Gigantamax battles can be. He said:

“In hindsight, we could have done a better job of preparing coaches for how difficult these challenges can be, providing more insight into the steps coaches can take to prepare. The biggest feedback we got from the launch weekend was that coaches felt unprepared for it. They Such a different experience than what I'm used to in RAID Battles.”

Pokemon Go players need to prepare for Gigantamax battles

To assist in that preparation, Pokemon Go Stardust and Candy rewards earned from defeating Gigantamax Pokemon will increase. Steranka encouraged trainers to use these items to make their existing Pokémon more capable of defeating Gigantamax enemies in the future. He also offered the following advice for trainers looking to win Gigantamax battles:

“Be prepared with Dynamax Pokemon that will face off against Gigantamax Pokemon. Investing in Max Moves is essential, and coordinating with your fellow Trainers during the encounter itself.”

Steranka enjoyed the ingenuity of the players who gathered in large groups to defeat the Gigantamax starter trio during the feature's first launch weekend, describing it as “a dramatic increase in success rate as people discovered new strategies from Saturday to Sunday.” Steranka also noted that the Gigantamax launch weekend saw the largest coordinated group of trainers gather in locations around the world to take on these new and challenging battles.

More Gigantamax (and Dynamax) battles to come Pokemon Go In the near future, Gigantamax is launching with Toxtricity as part of the Wild Area event this weekend. From many other Gigantamax Pokemon Pokemon Sword and Shield Likely to be added in 2025 and beyond, such as Inteleon, Cinderace, and Rillaboom, Melmetal's galler starter trio, originated in June. Pokemon Go, From the first generation of ultra-long mouth or super fluffy Eevee Pokemon games, or other Galore favorites like Corviknight, Alcremie, Grimmsnarl, and more. Trainers must work hard to strengthen their Pokémon so that they are ready to take down these enemies when they arrive.