Pokémon Go players may soon be able to interact with one another in more ways than simply trading, battling, and sending Gifts from afar.
In an image shared on Twitter today, Niantic appears to have teased the potential upcoming release of party play, allowing players—likely those in close real-world proximity to one another—to join small groups and adventure together. This feature has not been explicitly confirmed, nor has a release date been given, though the appearance of the teaser as well as the hashtag “#GoStartTheParty” indicates that the feature might be making its way into the mobile title soon.
The possibility of party play greatly resembles the Union Circle feature that was most recently available in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Through this feature, players from all over the world who were added as friends on one another’s Nintendo Switch systems could join the other’s game, not only allowing them to adventure around their version of the game but potentially encounter Pokémon that they could not encounter due to their version-exclusivity.
Pokémon Go players are speculating that the addition of party play will take a different approach from Union Circles, such as the possibility of challenges that can only be accessed as a premade group and more easily joining Raids. There is also a large chance that this feature could interact with the recently released and highly controversial Routes feature, where players traverse premade paths—that have remained elusive since their addition to the game—to find rare Pokémon and items, as well as Zygarde Cells.
In the meantime, the mobile title will soon be celebrating the arrival of autumn with the “Harvest Festival” event on Oct. 12, featuring a myriad of Pokémon associated with nature and the changing of the seasons. This will mark the debut of the Smoliv evolutionary line—including Dolliv and Arboliva—who will remain in the game for players to discover after the event concludes.
