Pokemon Go Is Removing Some Of Its Pandemic Bonuses Today

Pokemon Go developer Niantic has been making numerous changes to the game over the past few months to make it easier to play from home amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but some of these tweaks won't be around for much longer. Niantic has announced that some of the bonuses it implemented in the game will soon be phased out, while others will remain fixtures "for the foreseeable future."

Beginning today, October 1, at 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET, the distance it takes to hatch eggs will return to normal, although Niantic says it will also include more incubators in boxes you can get from Pokemon Go's in-game shop. Additionally, Incense will now only be more effective while you are walking. Your Buddy Pokemon will also still give you gifts, but only when you're close to running out, and only once per day.

Although these bonuses are being reverted, a handful will remain available going forward. You'll still be able to carry a maximum of 20 gifts in your inventory, and you'll still receive triple the normal amount of XP and Stardust for the first Pokemon you catch each day. Finally, Incense that you use will remain active for 60 minutes rather than the original 30 minutes. You can read more about the upcoming changes on the Pokemon Go website.

Niantic already has a number of October events lined up for Pokemon Go. A new set of Field Research tasks goes live starting October 1. Each time you achieve a Research Breakthrough next month, you'll encounter the Ghost/Bug Pokemon Shedinja. Beyond that, a fashion-themed event will kick off in the game starting October 2. That's also the same date the game's current Legendary, Zapdos, will leave five-star Raids, with Moltres taking its place until October 9.

In other Pokemon news, The Pokemon Company confirmed that Pokemon Go compatibility will be added to Pokemon Home before the year ends. Once this functionality is live, you'll be able to transfer certain monsters from the mobile game to the storage service and then bring them into Pokemon Sword and Shield. You'll also get a few bonuses for transferring a monster. First, you'll receive the Mystery Box in Pokemon Go, which is used to summon the Mythical Pokemon Meltan. You'll also get a Melmetal that's capable of Gigantamaxing as a Mystery Gift in Pokemon Home.