Niantic Is Trying To Make Pokemon Go Easier For Rural Players

Since its start, Pokemon Go has been a game optimized for metropolises. It's easy to find PokeStops, Gyms, and Raids in the city. It's not so easy if there is nothing but cornfields as far as the eye can see. But rural players, rejoice: Niantic hasn't forgotten about you. 

In a new community note, Niantic has announced that the studio is working on various improvements to Pokemon Go, making trainer quality of life just a little bit better. When it comes to rural PokeStops being few and far between, Niantic wants to make it easier for you to find much-needed items. In the studio's words, "We've been implementing various game-design changes, such as providing more items in areas with fewer PokéStops, introducing different shop bundles, and tailoring raid levels to fit the communities where the raids appear."

This comes after the welcome news that Niantic is planning on implementing a new feature that would allow Trainers to elect, evaluate, and report PokeStops. For players out in the boonies, this is their chance to elect local locations worthy of becoming PokeStops or Gyms (so yes, even that weird-looking barn can be a PokeStop). No more having to drive miles and miles just to get a couple Pokeballs. If this update goes to plan, there will now be closer locations for rural players to visit.

It's unclear what this newest update will look like: will rural PokeStops come loaded with more loot? Will items randomly spawn like Pokemon out in the wild? That remains to be seen. Nonetheless, Niantic says that change is coming. Behind closed doors, the studio is working on new features and breaking down old ones, examining exactly what works and what doesn't. It became clear a long time ago that playing Pokemon Go in the country isn't the ideal experience, so it's a relief to hear that these big city devs haven't forgotten about the farmers, hermits, and country kids.