April Fools' Day runs wild in the gaming industry every year, with many developers and publishers getting in on the jokes, including with Pokemon GO. Niantic Inc has joined the hilarity with this year's April Fools' Day humor as it has made some notable changes to Pokemon GO in celebration of April 1.
Niantic has updated Pokemon GO with content specific to April Fools' Day that will give Pokemon fans a reason to play the free-to-play mobile game in the 24-hour time frame. Ditto encounter rates have been drastically increased and the shape-shifting Pokemon may appear as another Pokemon when players encounter it in the wild. Shiny Ditto encounter rates have also been increased in Pokemon GO for April Fools' Day, making it an ideal time to catch a shiny version of the rare and elusive Pokemon.
Pokemon GO's Professor Willow has some corresponding Special Research for Pokemon trainers to help out with as they catch Ditto between now and 11:59 PM local time. The April Fools' Day Special Research Professor Willow will task Pokemon GO players includes making five "nice" throws, catching ten Pokemon, and capturing five Normal-type Pokemon. Pokemon GO fans that complete the April Fools' Day Special Research will be rewarded with 1,000 Stardust, five Razz Berry's, and fifteen Ditto candies which will help players increase the Combat Power of their new purple or shiny blue blob Pokemon.
According to Niantic, Ditto will be disguising itself as one of many Pokemon like Dwebble, Ekans, Finneon, Gastly, Natu, Surskit, and Swirlix. As a result of Ditto taking on the form of these Pokemon, the encounter rates of these Pokemon in the wild have fittingly risen for April Fools' Day as well. Niantic has hinted that Pokemon GO players that encounter legitimate versions of these Pokemon rather than Ditto may also see an increased likelihood of catching a Shiny, though it remains more likely that players will run into Shiny Ditto instead.
When Pokemon fans boot up Pokemon GO, they'll be greeted by a rather speechless Professor Willow who is seemingly a shape-shifted Ditto based on hints from Niantic. After several empty dialogue boxes from Professor Willow, Pokemon GO players will begin their Special Research which provides more activities to do in addition to Field Research and standard daily tasks. With Ditto swarming the Pokemon GO wild for April Fools' Day and Shiny rates being increased, today may be the ideal time of the year for fans to acquire the transforming Pokemon.
Pokemon GO is available now for Android and iOS.