Pokemon GO’s Costume Party Timed Research Controversy Explained

Halloween-themed events are no oddity when it comes to video games. Pokemon GO is no exception, with Halloween events occurring in the hit mobile game since its release in 2016. However, one addition to Pokemon GO’s 2024 Halloween festivities left players feeling a little tricked rather than treated.

Another key staple of Pokemon GO events is costumes. Players can often find specific Pokemon dressed in themed attire for a particular holiday. For example, during Pokemon GO’s winter holiday celebrations in 2016, players could find Pikachu in the wild wearing a Santa hat. Niantic has continued this trend across other holidays, including Halloween. Typically, fans would be joyous to receive cute costume-wearing Pokemon in-game, but 2024’s costumed Pokemon have been revealed to be costume repeaters.

Pokemon GO’s 2024 Costumed Critters Are Outfit Repeaters

Several Pokemon featured in the Halloween event were dressed in costumes they had worn in previous years. For example, Piplup wore its first Halloween costume during Pokemon GO’s 2021 celebration. While it’s unsurprising to see Piplup in the wild, the Pokemon is dressed in the same pumpkin hat it wore during this previous Halloween event several years ago.

Niantic was sure to include new Halloween editions of existing Pokemon for 2024’s event, including Froakie, and its evolutions, donning a witch hat and Rowlet, and its evolutions, wearing a top hat. These additions have been appreciated by the Pokemon GO community, but nevertheless contribute to another frustrating aspect of 2024’s Halloween event.

The reintroduction of certain costumed Pokemon is not the most egregious or frustrating part of Pokemon GO’s 2024 Halloween celebrations. Rather, players are upset with the worst barrier of them all – a paywall.

Pokemon GO Players Are Upset About Paying for Costumed Mons that Were Previously Free

These costumed Pokemon that have previously been featured in Pokémon GO are now included in the “Costume Party Premium Timed Research” pack for $1.99. These Pokemon include:

• Witch Hat Pikachu
• Halloween Costume Froakie
• Halloween Costume Rowlet
• Halloween Piplup
• Halloween Drifblim
• Spooky Festival Vulpix
• Spooky Festival Pumpkaboo
• Spooky Festival Gengar

As mentioned, Halloween Piplup was available in Pokemon GO previously for free, as were other Pokemon included in this list. Some of these critters aren’t available in the wild in their Halloween costumes this year. However, there are some ways to acquire a couple of these themed Pokemon without players needing to open their wallets.

All the aforementioned Pokemon are available to players upon completing specific tiers of the “Costume Party Premium Timed Research.” Fulfilling specific tasks leads players to encounters with one of the Pokemon. Witch Hat Pikachu and Spooky Festival Vulpix are available through wild encounters, raids, and eggs, but this repetition feels a bit lackluster to most players. Rather than play through the game to earn these Halloween-themed Pokemon, players could be tempted to spend money in their quest to “catch ‘em all!”

Why Niantic May Have Enacted This Paywall

This could be exactly the move Niantic is hoping players will take. While Pokemon GO has existed for almost a decade, the game still sees new players and the return of old ones. This re-release of costumed Pokémon may be enticing to players who, for example, didn’t get to catch Piplup in its pumpkin hat back in Halloween 2021.

Timed Research is, as its name implies, only available for a limited amount of time. Players returning to Pokemon GO at the end of the event may scramble to try and find all the limited edition costumed Pokemon. Having these Pokemon available behind a paywall may give these players peace of mind. They may not have caught these costumed Pokemon in the wild or through Timed Research, but they still managed to add them to their Pokedex through this offering.

Niantic is not the first developer to reuse its past assets for profit, and it certainly won’t be the last. Gamers wanting to grab these spooky costumed Pokemon have until November 3 before Pokemon GO moves onto its next event, the Harvest Festival on November 7 and Pokemon GOWild Area 2024 on November 23.