Niantic Begins Rolling Back Pokémon Go's Social-Distancing Measures, Fans Are Angry

Despite increasing lawsuit numbers from Covid-19's Delta variant, Pokémon Go is dilatory reverting backmost to pre-pandemic form, opening with a alteration to gyms and Pokéstops that necessitate players get person to these locations. After 15 months of updates that made Pokémon Go an exceptional social-distancing experience, Niantic announced successful June that changes would beryllium connected the mode to bring radical unneurotic again, but arsenic the pandemic took a crook for the worse, players believed these plans would beryllium enactment connected hold. They weren't. The archetypal changes deed connected Sunday, and fans are not blessed with the decision, which includes a petition signed by implicit 135,000 people.

During the pandemic, Niantic doubled the scope that players could interact with gyms and stops, meaning that if the archetypal enactment ringing was astir 40 feet successful circumference, it was expanded to 80. The anticipation was that this alteration would assistance support radical safe, arsenic they wouldn't beryllium crowding unneurotic arsenic closely, and immoderate players could scope these locations from their homes and not person to spell extracurricular astatine all. Players evidently enjoyed having treble the range, and seeing it reduced changes the mode they interact with the crippled successful a reasonably important way.

On apical of the region alternate that pushes radical to get person to cardinal locations, Niantic is encouraging its subordinate basal to determination extracurricular of their comfortableness portion to research caller territory done a important 10x experience-point bonus for visiting caller Pokéstops. Getting extracurricular and walking is besides incentivized done the incense point that present carries accrued effectiveness.

The Remote Raids, which are easy the astir fashionable of the pandemic-related content, person not been altered astatine this time, but Niantic says it volition beryllium implementing immoderate benignant of alteration successful the future. In an official blog post, the developer says "Remote Raids person go an important portion of the crippled this past twelvemonth and we’re going to proceed evolving them. Our volition is to find the close equilibrium betwixt distant play and in-person play, truthful enactment tuned for much details successful the coming months. Many of these in-person raid changes volition beryllium to hole for the eventual instrumentality of EX Raids."

Niantic hasn't offered an authoritative connection tied to the caller rollbacks, but the subordinate basal has been vocal connected societal media and Reddit, with immoderate players saying they'll halt playing and delete the crippled successful protestation of Niantic's decision.