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Niantic responds to Pokemon Go player complaints over new changes

The Pokemon Go developer says it will consult community members following backlash over new changes.

Donovan Erskine

August 6, 2021 8:00 AM

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During the worst days of the pandemic, developer Niantic made several changes to mobile game Pokemon Go so that fans could still enjoy the game without gathering in public places. One of these changes was an increased range to Pokestops, allowing players to reap the rewards from a greater distance. However, as cases began to go down, the developer reverted this change, leading to some serious backlash from the game’s community. Now, Niantic has responded to these complaints, saying that it will reassess its decision on the matter.

Over the last couple of days, Pokemon Go players have taken to social media to voice their frustrations with Niantic’s decision to revert safety-related changes made to Pokemon Go, including an open letter that was upvoted by over 6,000 Reddit users. Niantic has broken its silence, as the developer has shared a letter of its own on the company’s official website.

In the letter, Niantic addresses the concerns players have over changes being made to Pokemon Go. “Encouraging people to explore, exercise and safely play together in person remains Niantic’s mission,” the letter reads. “ We reverted the interaction distance from 80 meters back to the original 40 meters starting in the U.S. and New Zealand because we want people to connect to real places in the real world.”

Niantic shares that it is creating a team tasked with creating design proposals “to preserve our mission of inspiring people to explore the world together, while also addressing specific concerns that have been raised regarding interaction distance.” Niantic will be reaching out to members of the community to discuss potential options for the future of Pokemon Go.

Pokemon Go fans won’t have to wait long for an update, as Niantic states it will report the findings of its research when the next in-game season begins on September 2, 2021.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_