In late June Niantic, the developer of Pokemon GO, rolled back much of the mobile game's changes implemented to help players kept catchin' 'em all while staying safe and healthy. Obviously, the pandemic did not end in June, and Pokemon GO players have been vocally opposed to Niantic's decision ever since. As the Delta variant of COVID-19's spread peaks in the USA, Niantic is now announcing that it plans to re-implement certain pandemic features among other plans.
In Niantic's September Task Force Update, the company explained that it has had direct conversations with a variety of key individuals and outlets within the Pokemon GO community. From those conversations, Niantic says two main themes were a priority. First, players wanted the return of the 80-meter radius for using PokeStops and Gyms. Second, Niantic heard that it has "a lot of room to grow" with regards to communicating with Pokemon GO players.
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Regarding the first issue, Niantic already announced that it's bringing back the 80-meter interaction radius for PokeStops and Gyms last week. That will remain in place permanently going forward. Niantic says the goal of a smaller radius was to encourage exercise and socialization. It still wants to prioritize that, but will find new ways of doing so to be implemented later. Another change, related to US and New Zealand Pokemon GO rollbacks, is that experience adjustments will now be done globally rather than region-by-region.
Communication is a major focus of the September Task Force Update and Niantic has big plans to share on this front. First, Niantic plans to start releasing a "developer diary" every other month focusing on events, features, and the team's current priorities. Those diaries will include details regarding what Niantic calls "regular conversations" it plans to start having with community leaders going forward. It's also going to frequently update a Pokemon GO "Known Issues" web page, which catalogs ongoing technical issues.
These changes are coming directly as a result from players' efforts to express frustrations over the changes to PokeStops/Gyms' interaction radius and the #HearUsNiantic protest. Obviously, Niantic isn't bringing back all of the pandemic bonuses at the moment, which will still be a point of contention. However, Niantic's new communication efforts will potentially allow players to encourage those changes to come back if they feel like it's necessary.
The pandemic has proven an incredible challenge for game developers across the world, Niantic included. Niantic's previously acknowledged it made many of its Pokemon GO pandemic changes in a "knee-jerk reaction" without much research into how it would impact the game. Regardless, that decision has changed how Pokemon GO players play. As much as everyone would like to go back to the way it was before, Pokemon GO and the world itself have changed. It'll take some time to grow into exactly what that means.
Pokemon GO is available now on iOS and Android devices.
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