Be honest, who hasn’t played Pokémon GO at this point, and would still be willing to? Nearly five years after its explosive release on mobile, Pokémon GO has an official referral program, unlocking rewards when invited friends join the game and start progressing.

There is one nice catch, however: the referral also works for friends who haven’t played in at least 90 days, allowing friends to bring in their lapsed fellow players. I’m guessing that’s going to be a far more common scenario.

Here’s how it works:

  • Go to the Friends screen and tap Invite to get your referral code.
  • Share that code with a friend who’s new to Pokémon GO (or hasn’t played in at least 90 days).
  • Once they input your referral code, either during the sign-up process or later on the Friends screen, you’ll both begin receiving rewards.
  • As your friend reaches milestones on their journey, you’ll both receive rewards.

Rewards for both the friend and the referrer include rare Pokémon encounters, Rare Candy, Incubators, and more.

From the official announcement:

Remember what it was like when you first started your Pokémon GO adventure? Were there other Trainers in your life that helped you on your way to becoming the best you can be? We hope the referral program will encourage you to reach out and lend a helpful hand to your friends as well. We’re all here to enjoy Pokémon GO together, and this is the perfect opportunity to welcome (or welcome back) Trainers to our community. Let’s GO on this journey—together!

Pokémon is available for free on iOS and Android mobile devices.


This article was written by

Eric has been writing for over nine years with bylines at Dicebreaker, Pixelkin, Polygon, PC Gamer, Tabletop Gaming magazine, and more covering movies, TV shows, video games, tabletop games, and tech. He reviews and live streams D&D adventures every week on his YouTube channel. He also makes a mean tuna quesadilla.