Pokémon Go launches new weekly challenge feature hours after completing 'Brick' game, sparking concerns about this week's level 80 update
Blog Andrew Joseph 13 Oct , 2025 0
Pokémon Go is finally raising the game's level cap, but the week is off to a bad start.
This morning, the game debuted “Weekly Challenges” – a new feature that asks fans to form a team of four players and capture 500 creatures during the week in exchange for rewards. But the new gameplay feature was pulled after just a few hours, as enthusiastic fans who completed the goal quickly reported that their games suddenly “bricked” and became unresponsive.
Even if this feature is disabled, Pokémon Go Players affected by the bug say they're still unable to play the game, suggesting a more meaningful fix needs to be rolled out now. And all of this comes less than 48 hours before Pokémon Go's big level 80 update kicks off — an update that fans are now worried may end up being delayed.
in a statement Just minutes ago, the developer admitted in a post to the game's Niantic support account on
“We have temporarily disabled the weekly challenges feature while we investigate this issue,” the message continued. “We will share an update soon.”
Super Pokémon Fan Reddit silk roadfans who completed the weekly challenges said they were “completely locked out” from playing the game because loading the game still reopened the Weekly Challenges screen, which then blocked everything else.
“I tried opening the game on an old Android tablet and was able to close the page using the Android back button,” wrote fan Gerkenator. “But every time I open the game it comes back.”
Others said they tried deleting and reinstalling the game to no avail. “They did say Pokémon Go does something else,” Klecktaulous noted.
As Pokémon Go developers investigate the issue, fans are worried about the impact this latest issue will have on the game's earthquake-level update, which is currently scheduled to be released on Wednesday, October 15.
As previously announced, The update will rebalance XP across the entire game and increase its level cap for the first time in five years, from level 50 to 80. New leveling challenges and rewards will be added, while others will be phased out. Players' existing levels will also change to fit the new, smoother level curve – with many levels expected to increase automatically.
However, with less than 48 hours until the end of the game, and with an urgent fix now appearing to be needed for the game's weekly challenges feature, it remains to be seen whether the big XP update also arrives as planned.
“This is a good sign for this week's level update,” aznknight613 wrote. “Meanwhile, the level 80 update will be arriving in New Zealand in about…27 hours…” Brock_Hard_Canuck noted.
We'll keep an eye on the situation and update as more information becomes available.
Tom Phillips is IGN's news editor. You can contact Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social