The Pokemon GO community is left wondering whether Scopely is planning to discontinue free PokeCoins from Gyms after a screenshot went viral on Twitter (now known as X).
Following the game’s initial launch, where it introduced earning coins from gyms, Pokemon GO brought in the time-based defender bonus on 19th June 2017.
The update allowed trainers to earn 1 PokeCoin for every 10 minutes their Pokemon defended a gym. The daily cap was set to 50 PokeCoins. Since then, the game hasn’t introduced any changes to the coin-earning system or the daily cap.
On 23rd July 2026, a common image screenshot went viral on social media, which caused quite a stir among the community.
A recent survey was released by the game, which had a variety of questions regarding how players engage with the in-game gyms. Among the set of questions, ‘If you no longer can earn PokeCoins from gyms, how would that affect your gym interactions?’ particularly stood out.
This has been quite the hot topic among trainers and notable creators of the game. Other than raids, one of the biggest reasons players interact with gyms is to earn PokeCoins, which they use to purchase premium resources, including raid passes. Naturally, disbanding the PokeCoin-earning system from gyms will have a negative impact on gym interactions.
Will We No Longer Get Free Pokecoins From Gyms?
While this news has the Pokemon GO community anxious, nothing is certain. Scopely hasn’t mentioned anything about eliminating the PokeCoin-earning system from the game.
In recent times, we have seen Scopely introducing PokeCoins in the passes in the game, both in free and deluxe tiers. Moreover, during the one-day special, Professor Willow’s birthday event, we saw field research tasks awarding trainers free PokeCoins.
While the game has hinted at other ways to earn free PokeCoins, it never hinted at the removal of the PokeCoin-earning system from gyms.
The recent Pokemon GO survey could simply be used towards an overall gym rework, as it has been a while since we had any changes to the gym system in the game.
As the screenshots of the Pokemon GO survey went viral on social media, many trainers took to the comment section on these posts to voice their opinion. Trainers have stated that they have no reason to interact with the gyms at all if the free PokeCoin-earning system is removed.
Featured Image Credit
Image via Pokemon Press
