Pokémon Go was present at Summer Game Fest 2023, and developers Niantic gave players in the area an early look at an upcoming feature for the popular mobile game—PokéStop Showcases.
If you were active on social media during Summer Game Fest, you may have seen mention of this feature popping up around the event space in Los Angeles. In an interview with Dot Esports on June 10, Niantic confirmed several key elements of this new mechanic, including how it will function as a local leaderboard and give players rewards for participating.
While things like Shadow Raids and various events bring the entire Pokémon Go community together in different ways, Niantic is still looking at options that will improve the local experience of getting out and playing too. PokéStop Showcases are just one of a few new things the team is introducing this Summer, and they will act as a “lightweight” local leaderboard for players who want to show off their best catches.
The developers know finding and catching different Pokémon is the “heart and soul” of Pokémon Go and what fans keep coming back to do almost seven years post-launch. Alongside this is friends and players comparing their new catches with each other, whether it be online or at the end of an outing.
“That show-off spirit has always been a part of the franchise,” said Pokémon Go senior product manager Alex Moffit. “We’re pretty light on leader boarding and explicit competition in the game, and that’s deliberate. We know that’s happening outside of the game amongst friend groups, everybody’s finding creative ways to compete. So we thought, what if we bring a little bit of that spirit into the game itself.”
Certain PokéStops will host these showcases, which Niantic is going to use as a way to promote friendly competition and spotlight select specific Pokémon.
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Each Showcase will focus on one Pokémon, though there might be multiple happening at any given time. And, while each Showcase will only feature one species—at least at launch—there is also a category for them, starting with sizes like who has the biggest Litten, which also ties into the inclusion of XXL and XXS sized Pokémon to the game last December.
PokéStop Showcases won’t be permanent leaderboards, but will instead last for short durations naturally around events and other happenings throughout the season. Everyone who enters their Pokémon in a Showcase will receive rewards too, like Stardust, XP, and items that scale with where you place in the rankings at the end.
PokéStops will also be easy to locate when playing Pokémon Go, with Niantic saying that they will be common occurrences and automatically have a “Showcase Medallion” above PokéStops that have an active Showcase. There will be new Medals added for this feature, and players who drop a Pokémon in a Showcase can swap it out for a different Pokémon at any time, even if they aren’t close to that PokéStop anymore.
Niantic did not confirm an exact release date for the PokéStop Showcase, or the newly confirmed Routes feature that was also mentioned to Dot, however, the team did joke that this announcement happening with Pokémon Go Fest 2023 right around the corner “might work out just right.”
