Today, a major Pokémon Go event took place in New York, and Niantic invited a group of high-profile influencers to attend. That’s standard practice for big companies — you bring in big creators to generate buzz and content. What stood out, though, was that these influencers were guaranteed to catch an extremely high-quality shiny Mewtwo with perfect stats.
For a game built around catching Pokémon, hunting for rare spawns, and grinding for better monsters, this felt deeply unfair to many players. The sentiment online and among attendees was clear: the company only cares about the influencers, not the regular players who’ve invested years into the game. It reinforced the feeling that everyday players are just there to spend money, while the special treatment flows upward.
From a business perspective, I get it — you want to keep your big creators happy. But when your game is built on time investment, competition, and a sense of fairness, handing out god-tier Pokémon undermines that. It’s like giving someone a gold medal without them competing. That’s not great long-term PR, especially at a time when people are already skeptical of companies rewarding the rich and influential even more.