Pokémon Go reveals cute costumes and Darkrai raids in time for Halloween

By Taylor Lyles Published October 14, 2019

With Pokémon Sword and Shield set to launch next month on the Nintendo Switch, trainers will still have plenty of content to keep them occupied until then. To celebrate the spookiest time of the year, Niantic has announced a series of spine-tingling Halloween events in Pokémon Go, including the introduction of new Pokémon, double rewards, and new seasonal items, as well as a slew of adorable pocket monsters dressed in costumes.

From at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on Friday, October 17, until 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT on Friday, November 1, players participating in tier five raids will have the chance to snag Darkrai. This seasonal event will also offer the opportunity to capture the Forbidden Pokémon, called Spiritbomb, by completing a few different Special Research tasks.

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Of course, it would not be a Halloween event without costumes and candy. Any Pokémon you transfer, catch, or hatch will reward you with double candy. This year’s Halloween event will also feature several iconic Pokémon dressing up as other Pokémon (no, we are not kidding).

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Four of the most iconic Pokémon from the Kanto region are expected to be dressing up and celebrating the holiday. Bulbasaur will be dressed in Shedninja costumes, Charmander will be sporting Cubone costumes, Squirtle will be equipped with a Yamask hat, and Pikachu will be dressed up as Mimikyu. The development team also confirmed that Shiny versions of these Pokémon would also be up for grabs.

Pokemon Go — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Niantic also confirmed that more dark and ghost-type Pokémon will be spawning in the wild during the duration of this year’s Halloween event. So if you’re looking to add a Gastly or Litwickto your collection or complete the Pokédex, this would be the perfect time to do so.

The following shadow Pokémon will also be added into the game at the start of this year’s Halloween event: Beedrill, Cacnea, Duskull, Electabuzz, Kakuna, Lapras, Magmar, Mareep, Nuzleaf, Sableye, Trapinch, and Weedle. Lastly, the style shop will add some seasonal-themed items, including a Litwick hat and Zubat bag available for purchase. Niantic confirmed that these additions would be added permanently into the game going forward.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Based out of Baltimore, Maryland, Taylor is a contributing writer for Digital Trends covering the latest news in the computer…

Gaming

Nintendo’s mobile games are more influential than you might think

Alear and Marth open a door in Fire Emblem Engage.

Nintendo’s mobile games don’t get enough credit. While Nintendo had some undeniable hits like Pokémon Go and Fire Emblem Heroes, many consider the rest of its mobile efforts fairly underwhelming and even somewhat disappointing for a video game company of Nintendo’s stature. While nothing ever quite reached the high bar Pokémon Go set in 2016, Nintendo’s mobile games are a bit more influential than they get credit for.
Over the past few years, games like Pokémon: Let’s Go! Pikachu and Eevee, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe have built upon their mobile counterparts. Then, during the September 13 Nintendo Direct, Fire Emblem Engage’s announcement and main gimmick cemented that Nintendo isn’t just viewing mobile games as a mostly failed side experiment. While they might not be the most successful games out there, their DNA is creeping into the Nintendo Switch’s bestselling titles.
Mediocre mobile returns
Nintendo’s mobile gaming efforts kicked off in the mid-2010s. Niantic created the AR game Pokemon Go, which quickly became a smashing success in 2016. In the six years since, the game has generated around 678 million installs and $6 billion in player spending, according to data from Sensor Tower.
While working with Niantic proved fruitful for The Pokemon Company, Nintendo partnered with DeNA for most of its initial mobile games. Unfortunately, none of these quite reached the heights analysts and Nintendo expected. Super Mario Run was a smash hit at launch but failed to sustain much interest and consistent revenue, so it’s considered a disappointment by Nintendo.
Meanwhile, other games like Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Mario Kart Tour, Dr. Mario World, and Dragalia Lost launched, and while they’ve still made lots of money for Nintendo, most haven't matched the success of the most popular mobile titles. The biggest exception to this is Fire Emblem Heroes, a gacha game where players can summon classic Fire Emblem characters. It’s had over $1 billion in player spending alone as of June 2022 and is Nintendo’s “flagship title on the [mobile} platform,” according to Sensor Tower.
More recently, Nintendo tried to recapture the success of Pokemon Go with Niantic’s Pikmin Bloom, although that game has reportedly disappointed as well. Overall, it’s understandable why some people are surprised to see only a couple of surefire mobile hits from a company with the pedigree of Nintendo and consider it a side venture that never realized its full potential. If you look closely at the console games in these series that Nintendo put out since, though, it isn’t ignoring everything learned while making mobile games.
Mobile's monumental impact
Nintendo has the masterful ability to find the strongest elements of an idea, draw those out, and then expand upon them to create something uniquely memorable. We’ve seen it do this time and time again with subsequent entries of its flagship series, but it’s a mindset it has applied to its mobile games upon closer inspection.
As far back as 2018, Pokemon: Let’s Go! Pikachu and Eevee recognized the charm of not needing to battle a Pokemon to capture it, and incorporated that into a traditional RPG experience. More recently, items and mechanics like gardening and cooking from Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp made their way into Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was able to revive its live service offerings by repurposing the best tracks and assets from Mario Kart Tour.
Fire Emblem Engage – Announcement Trailer - Nintendo Switch
The legacy of Nintendo’s mobile games could also be felt in the September 13 Nintendo Direct. The showcase’s first announcement was Fire Emblem Engage, which is turn-based strategy game where the main gimmick is being able to summon classic Fire Emblem characters with a ring. While it doesn’t look like Fire Emblem Engage goes full gacha, it’s clear that Nintendo recognized how people liked collecting and using classic Fire Emblem characters in a new adventure, so the developers drew and expanded upon that idea for Fire Emblem Engage.
Before the announcement of Pikmin 4, Shigeru Miyamoto also took a lot of time to highlight Pikmin Bloom. While we don’t know much about Pikmin 4’s gameplay, Nintendo could find some aspects of that game’s exploratory experience, weekly challenges, or something I’m not even thinking of to freshen up the next mainline game. The same could even happen with Super Mario Run the next time Nintendo decides to make a 2D Mario game.
While watching Fire Emblem Engage’s reveal during the latest Nintendo Direct, it became clear that Nintendo’s mobile games have quietly become influential forces in the company's console games. Nintendo has slowly plucked the best ideas out of them and brought them into Switch games without extra monetization. While the future is cloudy for Nintendo's seemingly stalled mobile push, I hope the company can still find a place for its games on mobile, using the platform as a space to experiment with its beloved series.

Gaming

Marvel World of Heroes is the next AR game from Pokémon Go studio

marvel world of heroes announcement niantic

A new augmented reality game from Niantic is on the way, and this time it's being created in partnership with Marvel and will feature plenty of iconic faces from the comics. The game was announced today during Disney & Marvel's games showcase and has a 2023 release window.

MARVEL World of Heroes | Announcement Teaser

Gaming

Pokémon Go studio cancels four titles, including its Transformers game

pokemon go developer introduces ar pet game peridot

Niantic, the hitmaker behind Pokémon Go and Pikmin Bloom, is buckling up for some hard times. The company announced it has canceled the production of four games and laid off 8% of its staff.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Niantic CEO John Hanke wrote a companywide email saying that around 85 to 90 employees were getting laid off. Hanke explained that the company has been "facing a time of economic turmoil" and has resorted to "reducing costs in a variety of areas." That meant canceling four games, including Transformers game, Heavy Metal, and Hamlet.

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