Pokemon Go director says Remote Raids created “unhealthy” behavior

Pokemon Go director Michael Steranka has said that Remote Raid’s in the game has created an “unhealthy” behavior for players.

On April 6, 2023, Niantic pushed an update to Pokemon Go that saw the cost of Remote Raid Passes nearly double alongside a nerf that limits their use to just five times a day.

It quickly sparked backlash in the community, with many going as far as deleting the game entirely as Niantic continued to be quiet regarding the situation.

In an interview with Dot Esports, Pokemon Go director Michael Steranka broke the silence regarding the situation, claiming that Remote Raids created “unhealthy” behavior among players.

Director says Remote Raids are “unhealthy”

Steranka made it clear that he and his team haven’t been ignoring the backlash surrounding the Remote Raid nerf.

“That was like a very, very painful decision to make even for me,” he revealed. However, Michael claims that the “type of behaviors” that Remote Raid passes were introducing didn’t align with the kind of experience they were trying to create.

He added: “And I can honestly say like, even for me personally, it became sort of an unhealthy way to engage with the game, right?”

“And we’re talking about legendary Pokémon they’re supposed to be the epic epitome of all Pokémon, you know, content,” Steranka continued.

“And this is something that players including myself are doing over a dozen times a day for some people over 100 times a day. And so that’s something that we really honestly let go on a little bit too long and ultimately needed to course correct.”

He also went on to mention that Niantic has no plans to directly address the recent HearUsNiantic boycott as they’ll be sticking with the decision that was put into place on April 6.

Fans have yet to react to the comments, but keep an eye on our Pokemon Go coverage for more news surrounding the game.