Pokémon Go developer responds amidst confusion over progression limits for game's first battle pass

Pokémon Go developer Niantic has responded to confusion over unexplained progression limits for the game’s first paid event battle pass, which went on sale yesterday.

The game’s Tour Pass is a core part of this weekend’s upcoming Go Tour event, and rewards an encounter with Mythical creature Victini plus oodles of in-game items and bonuses. It also includes the first Lucky Trinket item, which instantly unlocks Lucky Friend status with a player of your choice.

There’s a free version of the Tour Pass without Victini and the Lucky Trinket, or alternatively you can pay £14.99 for the Deluxe version with far more rewards at each rank. For those really looking to spend, you can instead pay £19.99 for the Deluxe pass with 10 tiers unlocked straight away.

Why would you want to pay to unlock tiers? Well, the Tour Pass has 100 levels of item and Pokémon encounter rewards, and then a further 400 levels of Stardust resource dollops – making for 500 levels total. And, currently, you are restricted to only unlocking five tiers per day.

Pokémon Go does not currently state in-game that this restriction will be lifted when this weekend’s game properly begins, and yet you can start inching through the battle pass now.

“I was excited to have something to grind for and actually go out and play,” one fan wrote on the top Pokémon Go reddit TheSilphRoad. “Then I reached my cap just playing around my office and I suddenly have no interest in going out to play.”