Pokemon GO Update Event Taps McDonalds And Rural Upgrade

The newest update to Pokemon GO brings on lured McDonalds with "dancing pedals" as well as an upgrade for Rural users hunting monsters. This set of updates requires no Pokemon GO file update – unless of course the player hasn't updated for the past several weeks. This update is mainly server-side, which means that it's Niantic's switch the flip, rather than that of the individual user.

Users in Japan will benefit this week from the latest McDonald's sponsorship deal. This "Golden Week", as it's called, many McDonald's in Japan will be part of a "Lure module celebration event." According to Pokemon GO Japan's official Twitter account, around 2,500 "domestic" McDonald's will be taking part in the celebration. Here in the United States, we can only cross our fingers to be so lucky to sit around and eat french fries whilst catching tiny monsters.

The good news for USA-based users who live out in the forest is an increase in rural spawns. Users that live in areas with few or no Pokestops or Pokemon Gym locations are getting a boost in spawn regularity. While spawn spots might change very little, several users throughout the USA have reported that their own heavily-tracked Pokemon GO environment has seen upwards of a 10%-15% increase in Pokemon spawns.

It was reported all the way back in December that Rural and Suburban areas in Pokemon GO would get increased spawn rates for Pokemon of all sorts. As it turned out, we did indeed get more Pokemon popping up – and once Gen 2 was released, the amount of non-pidgey Pokemon increased by quite a bit. Just after word of increased spawns, trackers like Koerrie on Reddit discovered that most Pokemon spawn in the following manner:

• 15-minute spawn-rate per location now depreciated

• 30-minute spawn-rate in play

• Pokemon remain in place between 30 and 60 minutes

The rate at which Pokemon disappear ends up being more important than how many spawn points there are in any given area. If one player has a single spawn point at their home that allows Pokemon to stick around for 60 minutes after spawn all the time, there's a good chance they'll see at least a few of these monsters during the day.

Previous to now, it was possible – not always, but sometimes – to see a Pokemon Run Away then spawn again in the same spot in 15 minutes. That's no longer possible here in 2017. Instead, we're seeing a whole lot more Pokemon stay in place with one-shot (no run away) action in play.

The biggest change happened back after Halloween of 2016. After Pokemon GO made BANK from the event which spawned a BUNCH more Ghost-Type Pokemon, Niantic ramped up the spawns in a big way. Here in 2017 we're seeing extra tweaking going on for users who don't live in big cities.

Lack of spawns in rural and suburban areas around the world has appeared to be a big pressure-point for early players that didn't stick around for later big changes. Users that started in on the game in early 2016 but didn't stick around due to lack of in-game action – the frustration was real, but no longer necessary. If you're reading this, original players that left, it's time to come back!

The change very recently seems to be server-side for all players and increases spawn rates in rural and suburban areas of all sorts. Let us know if you've seen a significant change lately – and the general area where you live. Don't get too specific!

If Niantic really wanted to ramp up the power of their licensing with McDonald's, they'd propose to the company that they do a similar "Lure Event" in the USA. Not immediately – and not this month, since Nintendo is already dropping massive cash on McDonald's this month for Mario Kart. Instead, they'd be smart to wait until the inevitable Pokemon game for Nintendo Switch.

This game and that game, tied together inextricably through their mutual love for Pikachu and Pikachu eating cheeseburgers. A month of Pokestops Lured at McDonald's with Pokemon toys and good times had by all. That'd be the real monster event that'd be a cross-branding sale explosion for sure.