Niantic Forms ‘Task Force’ for Covid Rule Changes in Pokémon Go

Niantic, the studio behind Pokémon Go, responded to player reviews and threats of boycott after proposed rule changes in the United States and New Zealand have not been very well received.

here is the background if you missed it:

Niantic recently removed the social distancing feature from the game, which means players have to come together to spin Pokéstops or fight in gyms. The smaller radius means people need to congregate closer, with some players saying they need to come even closer than before the pandemic. As cases increase in the United States and those vaccinated are urged to mask themselves, the removal of this feature seems oblivious to the reality. Maybe things are going better in Galar? I hope!

Many fans feel that Niantic is not listening to them, thus forcing this boycott. When Niantic announcement the New Whimsical Monsters on Twitter yesterday, players used the hashtag #BoycottNiantic to show their displeasure.

In response, Niantic has Explain that the rule changes were only introduced in New Zealand and the United States, given current health advice in those countries. In New Zealand, where there is hardly any Covid, it is fine, but in the United States, as we have explained, things are not going as well as they could be.

The sheer volume of player criticism has therefore forced these social distancing plans to be rethought, and Niantic now says they are forming a “task force” to look at upcoming rule changes that take into account the sentiments of the player base in the world. game, and not just standard health tips:

We heard your feedback on one change in particular – the PokéStop and Gym interaction distance. We have reduced the interaction distance from 80 meters to the original 40 meters from the US and New Zealand, because we want people to connect to real places in the real world and visit places that are worth exploring.

However, we have heard your input loud and clear and therefore to address the concerns you raised, we are taking the following steps: We are assembling an internal cross-functional team to develop proposals designed to preserve our mission of inspiring people to explore the world. world together, while also addressing specific concerns that have been raised regarding interaction distance. We will share the conclusions of this working group during the next game season change (September 1). As part of this process, we will also be reaching out to community leaders in the coming days to join us in this dialogue.

You can read Niantic’s full statement here.