Pokémon Go’s big week where it finally raises the game’s level cap is off to a bad start.

This morning, the game’s first ever Weekly Challenge went live — a new feature tasking fans with forming a group of four players to, this week, catch 500 creatures in return for rewards. But the new gameplay feature has been pulled after just a couple of hours, as eager fans who completed the goal quickly reported finding their games suddenly “bricked,” and unresponsive.

Even with the feature disabled, Pokémon Go players impacted by the bug say they remain unable to play — suggesting a more meaningful fix now needs to be rolled out. And all of this comes less than 48 hours before Pokémon Go’s huge level 80 update is switched on — something fans are now concerned may end up delayed.

In a statement posted to the game’s Niantic Support account on X just minutes ago, the developer admitted it had disabled the new Weekly Challenge feature, as it had become “aware of an issue where some users are unable to close the Weekly Challenge completion popup, preventing them from continuing gameplay.”

“We have temporarily disabled the Weekly Challenge feature as we investigate the issue,” the message continued. “We’ll share an update soon.”

Over on top Pokémon fan reddit TheSilphRoad, fans who completed their Weekly Challenge say they are “completely locked out” from playing, as loading the game still re-opens the Weekly Challenge screen, which then blocks everything else.

“I tried opening the game on an old Android tablet and was able to dismiss the page with the Android back button,” wrote fan Gerkenator. “However it returns every time open the game.”

Others say they’ve tried deleting and reinstalling the game to no avail. “They really said Pokémon Go Do Something Else,” noted Klecktacular.

The Best Pokémon Spin-off Games<b>10. Pokémon Ranger</b><br><br> As already mentioned, the best spin-offs approach Pokémon from a fresh direction. Instead of playing as a trainer, in Pokémon Ranger you’re… well, a Ranger. Your job is essentially taking care of your local community. If a Pokémon is distressed, you’re tasked to calm it down. If one goes missing, you have to go find it. If there’s a fire, you can use a nearby water Pokémon to help put it out. Cute missions like these are strung together in a run, which replicates the sort of little tasks you’d see in cosy games. And they’re funny, too! Pokémon has always been fun, but rarely has it displayed actual comedic chops in the way it does here.<br><br> While Ranger definitely has its fans, it’s not higher on this list because the missions can get… repetitive. The main gameplay loop is literally about loops – you have to physically draw circles around the Pokémon you want to temporarily capture for each task using the Nintendo DS’ stylus. This has more depth than it sounds, but even the most challenging captures don’t feel completely satisfying. It’s an example of a really fun idea that doesn’t quite fully hold up in execution. Nonetheless, Pokémon Ranger benefits from that funny dialogue and some cool worldbuilding, allowing you to experience the universe from a very different, more vocation-focused perspective.

As Pokémon Go’s developer investigates the issue, fans fear the impact this latest problem will have on the game’s seismic levelling update that’s currently scheduled to hit on Wednesday, October 15.

As previously announced, this update will rebalance XP across the entire game and increase its level cap for the first time in five years, from level 50 to level 80. New levelling challenges and rewards will be added, while others will be retired. Players’ existing levels will also shift to accomodate a new, smoother levelling curve — with many expected to automatically increase.

However, with less than 48 hours to go and an emergency fix for the game’s Weekly Challenge feature now seemingly required, it remains to be seen if the big XP update also arrives as planned.

“This bodes totally well for the level update coming this week,” wrote aznknight613. “Meanwhile, the level 80 updates arrives in NZ in like… 27 hours…” noted Brock_Hard_Canuck.

We’ll keep an eye on how things are going, and update when we have more.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social