Niantic, the studio behind it Pokémon Go, responded to player criticism and threats of boycott following proposed changes to some of the rules of the game in the US and New Zealand did not go down well.
Here is the background if you missed it:
Niantic recently removed the social distancing feature from the game, which means players will have to get closer to spin the Pokéstops or fight in gyms. The smaller radius means people need to get closer together, with some players saying they need to get even closer than they did before the pandemic. As cases increase in the US and vaccinated people are encouraged to mask themselves, the removal of this trait does not seem to take reality into account. Maybe it’s better in Galar? I hope!
Many fans feel that Niantic is not listening to them, which is forcing this boycott. When Niantic announced the fancy new monsters on Twitter yesterday, the players used the hashtag #BoycottNiantic to show their displeasure.
In response, Niantic explained that the rule changes were only introduced in New Zealand and the USA based on the current health recommendations in these countries. In New Zealand, where there is virtually no Covid, that’s fine, but in the US, as we have stated, things are not as good as they could be.
The amount of player review has therefore forced a reconsideration of these social distancing plans, and Niantic now says they are forming a “task force” to consider future rule changes that take into account the feelings of the game’s player base, rather than just the standard health advice :
We heard your feedback on one change in particular – the interaction distance between PokéStop and Gym. We’ve reset the interaction distance from 80 meters to the original 40 meters, starting in the US and New Zealand, because we want people to connect to real places in the real world and visit places worth exploring.
However, we have heard your contribution loud and clear, and so we are taking the following steps to address the concerns you have raised: We are assembling an internal cross-functional team to develop suggestions that support our mission to inspire people, the world together and go at the same time, responded to specific concerns raised about interaction distance. We will share the results of this task force by the next season change in the game (September 1st). As part of this process, we will also be liaising with community leaders in the coming days to participate in this dialogue.
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You can read the full statement from Niantic here.
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