Pokémon Go: The Good & Bad During The Pandemic | PLUGHITZ Live
Niantic, Pokémon Go’s developer, has always had a great relationship with users; however, they almost lost it. Want to know what happened? Keep reading!
The Covid-19 pandemic negatively impacted many industries; however, when it comes to video games, they peaked during the lockdown. Everyone loved one mobile game, but its company didn’t know how to handle it properly.
Yes, we’re talking about Pokémon Go’s issues during and after lockdown. Niantic, the company that developed the game five years ago, has always managed to have a great relationship with the game’s users. They almost lost that bond due to some mistakes. Want to know what happened? Then keep reading!
How It Happened
During the lockdowns, Niantic made various adjustments to try and keep the game playable and the users’ health unthreatened. To maintain a greater distance between players, they modified the range from stops and gyms.
Remote raid passes were introduced so that users could stay at home, interacting with more advanced parts of the game. The modifications were well received by gamers, who have taken advantage of them to great effect. But then, the unexpected happened.
The *Almost* Downfall Of Pokémon Go
When these features went into effect, people thought that they would be taken away eventually. Nobody expected they would become permanent additions, even though the changes made the gameplay better and more people came back to playing during the lockdowns.
It truly demonstrated how much Niantic had thought about their gamers’ needs. They sought ways to meet those ever-changing needs.
However, the company has been rolling back some of the changes that were made in recent months. Niantic reduced the range markers for gyms and stops to their original range, which was expected. The company’s communication with players, on the other hand, was really poor.
That situation made the users complain about the issue on social media and other platforms, asking Niantic for answers and better solutions.
The Response
Steve Wang, the Executive Producer of Pokémon Go, wrote a blog post where he recognized on the company’s behalf that they made a mistake in making these changes without the right communications with players.
He said: “We should be communicating and engaging more with Trainers. (…) With your patience and understanding, we can do better here.”
Some of the changes they promised were:
- The publication of a developer diary to share the latest priorities, events, and features for the game.
- The set up of regular conversations with community leaders.
- And the update of the Known Issues page, prioritizing visibility into the status of existing bugs for Trainers.
Check the complete article in The Upstream.
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Want to stay up to date with the tech news? Then PLUGHITZ Live is your go-to source. Expand on the Pokémon Go issue by watching episode #603 of F5: Refreshing Technology hosted by Avram Piltch and Scott Ertz.
Enjoy our hosts’ points of view and insights on this topic; don’t let the details slip away!
