Niantic has a strong like of mobile AR games and its big three (Pokemon GO, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Ingress) all have put friendship in the spotlight in various ways. Although the game's have always been social, there's no denying that the Friend-based features and events have greatly increased in recent years, especially when it comes to Pokemon GO.
Friends are incredibly important in Pokemon GO thanks to their connection to damage bonuses during raids, necessity for completing select daily and special research tasks, and the discount in trade costs that they increasingly provide at higher Friendship levels. Thanks to all of that value, many of the game's most hardcore players wasted no time in maxing out their Friend list and hitting the old 200 Friend cap. As some fans were expecting, that cap has since been adjusted.
Starting now, the Friend list cap is increased from 200 to 400 for all Niantic games. That means that many players will be able to pick up 200 additional friends now, if they are so inclined. Managing an enormous Friend list can be a bit of a task on its own, so getting up to those numbers definitely isn't something for everyone. That said, the increased emphasis on Remote Raids lately has given yet another reason to make a lot of connections around the world and engage with the game's community outside of the local bubble.
Although 400 friends likely seems like serious overkill to the average player, this is yet another endgame quality of life improvement that is part of what make the Niantic mobile AR games such an evergreen game for its hardcore community. The feature likely won't get much use from the majority of average players, but it's great to have the option for those who were feeling limited by the 200 count cap. Much like any capacity limit in the games, it's almost certain that it won't take long for players to hit this new limit and start rallying for yet another increase.
For now, the 400 limit will have to do. Niantic has not given any hints or indications that another cap increase is on the way. The spring is a very active time for Niantic games, so players should have plenty of opportunities to head out (play remotely) and continue to enjoy the mobile AR games and make some new connections that will help them add to their friends list over the coming spring and summer months.
Pokemon GO, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Ingress are available on Android and iOS.
Source: Niantic Support