Pokemon GO Fans Frustrated by Mythical Pokemon Paywall in Latest Zarude Event

Niantic recently announced the Verdant Wonders event for Pokemon GO, including a promotional image prominently featuring the mythical Rogue Monkey Pokemon, Zarude. However, it turns out that fans hoping to catch Zarude in Pokemon GO can’t do so through this event unless they purchase the paid Special Research.

Fans Excited, Then Frustrated, By Zarude Special Research

As we often do when irritated by yet another paywalled Pokemon GO feature, fans took to Reddit to share their thoughts on the paid Special Research for Zarude in the Verdant Wonders event. User foulmouth232 turns our experience of the event announcement into a truly relatable meme.

Like many fans, I saw the initial announcement and assumed I’d be able to get a Zarude through the event since it prominently features in the promo image. However, the event announcement leads with the paid $7.99 ticket for the Rogue of the Jungle Special Research Story, which is not available to users who don’t pay for the upgrade. While the event has other free elements, the highlighted Mythical Pokemon Zarude isn’t one of them.

This marks the first time I can recall a featured Pokemon being paywalled in a standard monthly Pokemon GO event like this. Typically, these paid tickets include additional encounters with featured Pokemon, but you can still get a chance to catch one without paying. Apparently, Niantic isn’t about to give Zarude away for free again and expects players to pay up if they want to catch it this time around.

Fans have noticed the uptick in paid events in recent years, and it’s making it harder for casual players to enjoy the game. One user points out the sheer number of paid tickets for sale right now between the seasonal World of Wonders ticket, GO Fest 2024 tickets, and now the Rogue of the Jungle Special Research ticket. And that’s before we even touch on the fact that the in-person GO Fest event this year is in New York City, over July 4th weekend, which is not tenable for many budgets.

The consensus for this event seems to be that most players aren’t going to opt in for the paid ticket. Even fans who typically don’t mind paid tickets for the game are frustrated by the fact that nearly every event seems to include a paid component these days, a trend that isn’t exactly keeping the game accessible in this economy.