Niantic called out for ‘bullying’ Pokemon GO players
Pokemon GO might have exhausted its initial excitement (maybe it's something to do with players walking off cliffs and into active roads), but damn, it was a cultural revolution.
The impact of the mobile game on players was huge, getting them to actually go outside and interact with one another to catch, discover, and battle their way through a fascinating new era of the classic franchise.
Though Pokemon GO isn't quite as popular as it once was, there's still an ample and excitable community that plays daily. Even though Niantic doesn't always get it completely right, fans are still involved. But, they might not be after the latest Pokemon GO controversy.
Niantic accused of bullying Pokemon GO players
Overhauling the way for players to compete in remote raids from the comfort of their own homes was a pretty controversial move from Niantic. Especially at the time of the pullback, many still felt that the COVID-19 pandemic hadn't quite come to a close.
Regardless, players lost the chance to engage with raids from their beds, meaning they weren't particularly happy about it. Others were concerned about the impact on Pokemon GO players that might not be as mobile, and while it's a very real complaint, Niantic is being a little childish about it.
In a now-deleted tweet, Niantic has apparently been mocking players for complaining about remote raid changes, adding the hashtag #getoutside to the end of it.
It's a bit of a scathing tweet, and while it's easy to read it as a harmless jibe, those who've aired their grievances about disabled players or those with mobility issues being locked out of Pokemon GO are less than impressed. As you can imagine, Niantic's "joke" hasn't gone down well.
Fans react to controversial Niantic tweet
Click to enlargeIt looks like these same gamers aren't taking to Niantic's sense of humour very well, as in the replies to the repost of the tweet, players are clearly incredibly frustrated.
"This is bullying at this point…" says one reply. "Anti-consumer #Niantic," adds another. "How to kill your fantasy and business model." Someone else wrote, "I was genuinely disgusted by the tone-deafness in this tweet. I'm all for going back outside, but they are pushing it the complete wrong way, and then they throw this out there? Not cool."
A fourth seethed, "The audacity of Niantic to tweet this out and delete it after the backlash is hilarious. Remember guys once you say something on the internet it's there always. The fact the tweets gone shows they have heard us?? Don’t ignore us!"
Niantic has clearly rubbed their fans the wrong way in the wake of the remote raid changes - and there's little they can do to remedy it now but bring it back. Maybe it's time for the company to concede.