With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier in the year, Niantic made some changes to Pokemon Go. This was to facilitate gameplay for many countries in one state of lockdown to another. Now that most of these movement restrictions have eased, the developer is rolling back some of these changes.
The most important change is that the hatch distance for eggs will return to normal. Another change includes making the Incense only be effective while you are walking. Your Buddy Pokemon will only bring you Gifts when you’ve nearly run out, once a day. And finally, PokeStops will no longer guarantee a Gift, but the chances of getting one will still be high.
Starting Thursday, October 1, 2020, at 1 p.m. PDT (GMT −7), we’ll be making some changes to temporary bonuses. Read more: https://t.co/t02oV3SMKr pic.twitter.com/kon8jTvk1O
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) September 29, 2020
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That being said, some of the changes to facilitate Pokemon Go gameplay while not moving will still remain for now. These include getting triple EXP and Stardust for the first catch of the day, being able to hold 20 Gifts at a time, and the Incense lasting 60 minutes.
These changes will be effective starting 2 October at 4AM, local time. Niantic says it will continue to monitor the global situation, implying more changes may take place depending on the way things turn out. Though, if that were the case, these changes are coming at a strange time.
(Source: Niantic)
