As Niantic wraps up the summer with the Pokemon Go Fest 2025: Max Finale, the team seeks to continue the momentum with a major announcement: The developer is lifting the level cap to 80. That’s a huge jump compared to the previous change in 2020.
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It’s part of a larger effort to revamp the leveling process so it feels smoother and less of a grind. Although trainers are increasing in level, the Pokemon they have will stay with the level 50 cap.
The change is mainly a way to keep player engaged with milestones. More specifically, Niantic said the overall leveling curve will be rebalanced so that players earn levels more frequently. In addition, with the change, the team is removing the Level-Up Research tasks from 41 to 50, and new ones will be added for those going from 71 to 80.
LEVEL 70 BENEFITS and LEGACY LEVEL 50
The perk for hitting level 70 and higher is that there will be an increased chance of becoming Lucky Friends with other players. Trainers will also gain free increased storage capacity for Pokémon, items and gifts. That means even though players may hit the maximum storage space, those who are higher level will have more spaces compared to those who haven’t reached the leveling heights. In addition, players will also obtain new avatar items, starting at level 25.
Well, a leveling revamp brings plenty of excitement, it will also put pressure on players who are near the cap. The change happens Oct. 15, and that means players have six weeks to push up their XP and finish up those tasks. It’s a worthwhile endeavor because Niantic is acknowledging the legacy 50 achievement with a special medal, an all-new avatar pose and of course the level 50 jacket.
Once Oct. 15 passes, though, Niantic will remove the avatar items players earn through the current level 40 to 50 quests. Players who already have them will keep them, but once, the revamp rolls out, they go into the Niantic vault.
A CHANCE TO AVOID FOMO
That’s going to create a lot of fear of missing out, and it will get players to start grinding for experience points. In anticipation of that, Niantic will have an XP Celebration event, running from 1 p.m. Aug. 25 to 11:59 p.m. Oct. 14. The event will give players several XP bonuses:
2X catch XP from nice, great and excellent throws
+3,000 XP from winning raids
+3,000 XP from winning Max battles.
In addition, Niantic is giving out Timed Research that will give trainers a chance to earn over 7 million XP along with an adjusted level 47 level-up research task that will require players to walk 25km in a week for just two weeks, instead of the normal eight.
It’s a good time to use those Lucky Eggs, even if you already reached the cap. Niantic will raise players’ levels automatically for those who have enough XP for it. To help players reach the new cap, Niantic is offering a $9.99 web store deal that includes 15 Lucky Eggs, one Super Incubator, one Incubator, five Incense and two Lure Modules.