Pokémon Go launches Gigantamax raids to mixed response, as developer bans countless players by accident

Pokémon Go players have had their first taste of Gigantamax battles – the game’s toughest trial yet – and come away with a mixed initial response.

Gigantamax battles launched on Saturday with skyscraper-high versions of Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise to defeat and capture. The game makes clear you won’t be beating these critters on your own – 10 players is the recommended minimum, though Gigantamax battle lobbies cater for groups of up to 40, double that of regular raids.

Response to these battles has run the gamut online, with players in small communities once again raising complaints about a feature intended for large, co-ordinated groups. And even in said groups, the feature’s surprisingly complex set of mechanics – which involve proper MMO-style tanking and healing – seems not to have been well enough explained to an audience generally used to standing and tapping.

Still, Gigantamax battles are by no means impossible, as some early reports seemed to suggest. As the weekend continued, players began to group up and unpick some of the strategies behind the feature – and also use captured Gigantamax creatures from successful battles in their next fights.

I joined the Brighton raid group at the weekend and we easily took down a string of Gigantamax bosses with a group that numbered around 50. The only struggle we did face was when splitting the group to accomodate the feature’s lobby maximum of 40 – anything under 20 people, and you need to start paying attention to Gigantamax’s more detailed mechanics.

As the afternoon continued, I found myself in one battle as its sole survivor, with the boss’ health at just a sliver. In a neat touch, fallen battle participants can “cheer” on those remaining – and a real-life cheer went up when my final creature, itself on the edge of being knocked out, at last had the boss defeated.

I’ve no problem with Pokémon Go offering a very high-end activity for specific players, particularly one as separate to the app’s main gameplay loops as Dynamax and Gigantamax now are. Already, I can see strategies from the game’s dedicated hardcore emerging to short-man Gigantmax battles with only eight player accounts. But the disconnect in the feature’s rollout to an audience used to turning up with auto-selected battle parties to regular raids that have only gotten easier over time (or that accomodate remote play) left a clear first impression.

It’ll be interesting to see how many players continue to try their luck with the feature going forward (though if you’re in Brighton, Gigantamax Gengar meetups are happening next weekend, do say hello).

In other news, Pokémon Go developer Niantic has apologised for “incorrectly” banning a slew of players over the weekend – simultaneous to Gigantamax’s launch.

“Trainers, some accounts may have incorrectly received a suspension or ban message in Pokémon GO today,” Niantic wrote on social media, late on Saturday evening here in the UK. “This has been cleared from affected accounts and Trainers should now be able to play Pokémon GO normally. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

Players had reported being hit by sudden gameplay bans throughout Saturday, as Gigantamax battles began, prompting a flood of concern that the restriction was tied to the use of specific third-party companion apps. Niantic is yet to comment on the cause of the incorrect ban wave.