Fans have had reason to believe that Powered Up PokeStops were on the way for a little while; back in October, Niantic was testing this Pokemon GO feature in New Zealand. Now the feature is finally available to the wider Pokemon GO community. The premise behind Powered Up PokeStops is simple: if enough players complete AR Scanning tasks for a PokeStop or a Gym, then it’ll be powered up temporarily, dropping significantly more items when spun. Since this feature is so new, there’s a good chance that Niantic will adjust it significantly in the coming months, but for now, it’s a pretty straightforward transaction that could have a lot of value.
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How Powered Up PokeStops Work
AR Scanning tasks are the backbone of the new PokeStop mechanic. These tasks first showed up in late 2020, asking players to record brief videos of the real-life monuments and landmarks that PokeStops are built on in exchange for rewards. While these new Pokemon GO tasks struck fans as a little awkward to complete sometimes because of the physical filming of a landmark, they often offered valuable items like Poffins when completed. At their introduction, Niantic said AR Scanning tasks were meant to help build new augmented reality features into Pokemon GO, but now they serve a new purpose: powering up PokeStops.
In order to power up a PokeStop, multiple Pokemon GO players have to scan the same PokeStop. All PokeStops are at Level 0 by default, but they go up to Level 1 with five completed scans, then Level 2 with ten scans, and finally Level 3 with 25 scans. With each completed level, a Powered Up PokeStop drops more and more items, encouraging fans to hang around and make the most of their PokeStop. It’s worth noting that PokeStops only remain powered up temporarily, so while Pokemon GO players can get a few hours of bonuses out of a Powered Up PokeStop, they’ll have to complete AR Scanning tasks again the next time they visit that PokeStop if they want to boost it.
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Pokemon GO’s AR Projects
Anyone eager to try out Powered Up PokeStops should keep an eye out for PokeStops with an AR Mapping tag in the top left when they’re being viewed. As for the AR Scanning tasks themselves, Niantic recommends that players record 20 to 30-second videos of the landmark, capturing a 360-degree view of smaller landmarks like statues or a 180-degree view for large PokeStops like historic buildings. Players also have to be at least level 20 in Pokemon GO in order to get AR Scanning tasks from PokeStops and Gyms.
Powered Up PokeStops are compelling in themselves, but they also seem like a step taken towards a larger project. Niantic still says that it plans on using the data from AR Scanning tasks to introduce new augmented reality elements to Pokemon GO, potentially giving a player’s Pokemon new ways of interacting with the world. New AR elements seem like a great way to expand Pokemon GO, shoring up its unique mobile and AR gameplay components rather than focusing solely on Pokemon-related content. Whether the AR Scanning tasks contribute to something truly exciting remains to be seen, but for now, at least players can reap the rewards at a local PokeStop.
Pokemon GO is available now for Android and iOS devices.
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