Pokémon Go Raid Battles Blocked for Most Players Due to Level Restriction

The new Pokémon Go Raid Battles are now live but unfortunately, they’re only going to be available to the privileged few. In fact, the majority of lapsed Pokémon Go players won’t even be able to get access to the new co-operative battle feature.

The newly revamped gyms for the augmented reality mobile game, which include support for the co-op Pokémon Go Raid Battles, integrated PokéStops and the option to nab rare Pokémon and new items, have started launching across select cities across the world.

But the only way you can get in on the Raid Battle action is if you’re Level 35 or above. Yes, you read that right, only for Level 35 players or above, which equates to having at least six million XP to your name. We’ve been playing on and off since the game started, initially classing ourselves as a total addict, but now very much in the lapsed camp. That puts us at level 24, way below what’s required to get into a Raid Battle.

What’s so frustrating about this barrier is that it means anyone looking for a reason to get back into Pokémon Go doesn’t have one, yet again. Hopefully, this is just a temporary testing measure to see how much interest there is in the new Pokémon Go Raid Battles. However, if Raid Battles are only available in select cities to a select group of players, we’re wondering how many people will actually be able to take part at all.

If that tweet is taken with a sprinkling of salt, it could be that Niantic eventually drops this high level requirement and tiers the raids according to your level, or at least your team’s average level.

Niantic is still releasing information about the Raids, so hopefully we’ll find out more soon about what’s the plan for the future of Pokémon Go Raid Battles.

We’ve reached out for more information about the level restrictions and will report back if there’s any news.