Pokemon Go Raid countdown waiting times slashed by new feature

Niantic has announced it’s testing a new Raid feature that will allow players to skip directly to a 10-second Raid countdown, which includes Remote Raids.

Pokemon Go players are still calling for small quality-of-life updates to make their way into the game, even seven years after launch.

Concepts like in-depth damage breakdowns, mass gift sending, and animation skips are just a handful of updates that players want to see make it into the game.

However, Niantic has announced it’s testing out a new quality-of-life update that will cut down on Raid countdown timers, but only in select areas for now.

Niantic teases Pokemon Go Raid countdown feature

The news came from the Niantic Support Twitter account, which said: “We’re testing a ‘Ready to Raid’ button in the London, Osaka City and Suita City areas.”

According to the tweet, trainers who participate in Raids in these areas during this test period will be able to tap a button above their Raid Party to skip to a 10-second Raid countdown. Niantic also confirmed that this feature will work with Remote Raids.

Finally, the developer attached a video showing off the new feature in action. Sure enough, once the original 110-second counter begins, a ‘Ready’ button pops up above the Raid party.

Once pressed, a confirmation message appears that reads: “When all Trainers are ready, the lobby timer will count down from 10 seconds. You can still quit before the raid begins.”

It seems that every trainer taking on the Raid needs to press the ‘Ready’ button before the lobby counter disappears. Considering this is a feature many trainers are looking forward to, it shouldn’t be a hindrance.

It’s still unclear when this quality-of-life feature will make its way into the full game, but for now, trainers in London, Osaka, and Suita City can enjoy testing out this new feature and getting into Raids quicker than ever before.