Pokemon GO Gyms Closed for Upcoming Feature Update

Niantic is slowly laying the groundwork for the upcoming big Pokemon GO update. One of the things they’ll be changing around is how Gyms will work. To implement the update, though, they’ll have to shut Gyms down. Trainers won’t be able to use Gyms starting June 19th. So, you’d better collect your Defender bonus ASAP!

We’re nearing the first anniversary of Pokemon GO. Niantic has been dropping hints about what they have in store to mark the game’s first birthday. Now that the Ice and Fire Solstice event is coming to a close, it’s time to set sights on what’s coming next. We’ve written before about what we expect Niantic has up their sleeve in our Pokemon GO Fire & Ice Event, Group Gameplay Features & More article and we’ll soon see if we were right.

For one thing, it seems that we were right on the money that Pokemon GO will be getting some sort of co-op Gym raids. Either way, something is happening with Gyms. Niantic announced on their official Twitter that they’ll be closing them while they’re implementing new features. Here’s the tweet.

In preparation for some exciting new features, we’ll be temporarily disabling Gyms starting June 19. Stay tuned for more information.

— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) June 17, 2017

They also announced the same thing in their reply to a Reddit thread started by user Mesawesome. Basically, they wanted to let trainers know up front so that they can cash in their Defender bonuses. Here’s what they said:

As we get ready to update Pokémon GO, we want to ensure that Trainers have a sufficient heads up that Gyms will soon be disabled so that they can collect their Defender bonus. We will provide updates on our social channels in advance of Gyms closing in-game.

So, trainers, be quick and get your Defender bonuses while there’s still time, and prepare for whatever new stuff is waiting for us!