'Pokémon GO' Announces You Can 'Raid Shadow Legends,' No Connection To 'Raid: Shadow Legends'

Pokémon GO has introduced a new promotion that will allow players to raid Shadow Legends, and no, it has nothing to do with the oft-memed Raid: Shadow Legends.

The game has been mired in controversy in recent months after capping the amount of Remote Raids possible to do in one day and raising the price of Remote Raid passes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pokémon GO developers Niantic allowed players to participate in Remote Raids, which allowed them to simulate the experience of the game without risking their health by going outside. With the pandemic waning, Niantic execs say the changes have been made to encourage people to get back outside in line with the original spirit of the game.

The changes have been met with harsh backlash from fans, who have been pushing back against it with the "#HearUsNiantic" hashtag since the changes were announced in March. It took Pokémon Go Director Michael Steranka and Senior Producer John Funtanilla two months to address the concerns, saying they wanted to have something to announce before speaking on the #HearUsNiantic movement.

They did that this morning by announcing "Shadow Raids," a Team Rocket takeover of normal raids that let players catch "Shadow Pokémon." Players will have to go outside to participate in Shadow Raids but will be afforded the opportunity to catch Pokémon including a Shadow Mewtwo.

In doing so, players will technically be able to raid Shadow Legendary Pokémon, and the similarity of that phrase to the ubiquitous mobile game Raid: Shadow Legends was not lost to many fans of Pokemon GO.

Still, the announcement of Shadow Raids and the jokes about raiding Shadow Legendaries did little to quell the ire of the #HearUsNiantic movement, who saw the announcement as proof of the company doubling down on the policies that hurt the accessibility of the game.