Pokémon GO Gets New Social Feature with Collaborative Party Play for Four Players

Today, Niantic officially dropped the news that Party Play would be coming to Pokemon GO. The feature was originally teased on October 11, 2023, with a singular image that depicted a scenic location with shadows of a group of four trainers seen standing together on a footpath. Speculation was rife as to what exactly the image meant, but fans of Pokemon GO did not have to wait long for confirmation as to what the new Pokemon GO gameplay mechanic was.

The new feature, called Party Play, has not had a lot of official information released about it thus far. It will allow up to four people to play together on Pokemon GO. However, Pokemon GO Hub has listed a range of features that had been datamined prior to the official announcement, which you can view below.

• Party Play allows Trainers to create parties of up to 4 Trainers, and to get bonuses and earn rewards while playing with the group
• You need to be near the party host to join, and you can either join using a code, or by scanning a QR code
• You can see other Party members on the overworld map, and you can decide whether or not you want to share location and your avatar
• By playing in a party, you use your Fast Attacks to get Party Power, which increases the damage of your next Charged Attack
• You can also complete Party Challenges to earn rewards, and we don’t know what the rewards are

Pokemon GO Hub, October 11, 2023.

Whether or not these aspects will be included in Party Play when it releases is yet to be seen. However, it seems likely that Party Play will work similarly to what is stated. Only time will tell though.

Most of the initial feedback and interactions that the Pokemon GO community has had to the announcement have been negative. With a history of Niantic releasing Pokemon GO updates that seem like they needed some more development time, or updates that are not interacted with and sent to die, it is no wonder that certain members of the community expect Party Play to end up similarly. Hopefully, this will not be the case and Party Play will be an exciting addition to Pokemon GO. Either way, it remains to be seen.