Hey kids, like casinos?
Pokemon Go has been around since mid-2016, and it’s been aggressively selling a number of microtransactions ever since.
One of the most contentious elements is the egg system, which is like a pseudo loot box; and has managed to evade legislation or mass scrutiny since launch. The gist is that players have to incubate eggs with in-game items (a process that can be quickened by paying), walk around, hatch them, and then pray they get the creatures they want.
This might be changing soon, as Niantic has confirmed that you could be able to see which creatures hatch from which eggs. Here’s the rub from the tweets:
“Trainers, we’re excited to share that we’re starting testing where a limited number of Trainers will be able to see which Pokémon may hatch from Eggs in their Inventory! Trainers included in the test will be able to tap an Egg to see a list of possible Pokémon and their rarity level. Please note this will not show if the Pokémon may be Shiny.”
So uh, it’s about time? This sort of transparency has been commonplace for many loot box games for several years, but not by choice. After the global stage got wind of the gambling/gacha elements, also known as “surprise mechanics,” many organizations added percentage and rarity clarity to boxes to sidestep legislation or hefty fines.
Given how slow Niantic and The Pokemon Company are to adapt anything in Pokemon Go, doing it largely after the fact fits with their modus operandi. Especially if there’s more trouble brewing for microtransaction schemes behind the scenes.
Niantic Support [Twitter]
