Pokémon Go reworks Mega Evolution costs following fan criticism
Re-energised.
Pokémon Go developer Niantic has rebalanced the game's new Mega Evolution mechanic following widespread fan complaints. First launched last week, the major addition was met with immediate criticism for requiring numerous raids to grind a new resource, Mega Energy, for little perceived reward.
In response, Niantic said it had heard its community "loud and clear" and would be making changes. Those changes arrived last night, with the promise of several more to come.
The cost to re-evolve Mega Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise has dropped from 50 to 40, while the cost to re-evolve Beedrill has dropped from 25 to 20.
Perhaps more impactful, the amount of Mega Energy earned from Mega Raids has been increased. You can now earn up to 90 from each battle (the previous cap was 55, itself already tweaked upwards).
According to Leek Duck, the timings needed for Mega Energy now sit at the following thresholds:
- Under 0:30 - 90 (was 55)
- 1:15 - 0:31 - 80 (was 50)
- 2:30 - 1:16 - 70 (was 45)
- 3:45 - 2:31 - 60 (was 40)
- 5:00 - 3:45 - 50 (was 35)
Future additions to the game will allow you to earn Mega Energy via walking with your buddy, via research tasks and "other gameplay". Mega Pokémon will also be made more useful as they will boost the candy earned when catching a Pokémon that shares its type.
Niantic made another gameplay tweak last night to raid rewards, boosting the number of possible rewards and chances to catch for raids across the board. Fans had complained changes made upon the introduction of Mega Raids which prioritised speed and number of players had impacted these.