Per a new report, Pokémon GO developers removed a PokéStop from Jeffrey Epstein’s island after users recently flocked to the location virtually. The location has been part of the game for five years, and several users have mentioned visiting it virtually since then.
Pokémon GO reportedly removing Epstein Island PokéStop
Niantic Labs, the developers of the popular AR mobile game Pokémon GO, reportedly removed a PokéStop named “Sun Clock.” It was located on the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s island, Little Saint James. According to Gaming Bible, the studio has confirmed the removal to them. However, there have been no official statements from the company.
Earlier this month, a player drew attention to the PokéStop in a Reddit post. They shared the location’s coordinates and wrote, “Can someone see if there’s anything on Epstein’s Island?”
Later, several users replied, saying that there is indeed a PokéStop on the infamous island. The location features a large sundial with a painted face on the ground. It was also revealed that the location has been part of the game for five years. Furthermore, many users have mentioned spoofing their location to virtually visit the stop.
For the uninitiated, spoofing refers to altering the in-game location so that the user appears to be somewhere other than their actual GPS location. However, it violates Niantic’s Terms of Service and could result in a permanent ban from the platform.
Using an image shared on X (formerly Twitter) in 2020, a user allegedly submitted the location to Ingress, Niantic’s AR game before Pokémon GO, sometime between 2020 and 2021. Since the company uses the Ingress portal as its primary source, the location also appeared in its Pokémon game (via Kotaku).
While users have long visited the location virtually, the PokéStop reportedly saw increased traffic after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) released more than three million files related to Jeffrey Epstein last month.
Originally reported by Harsha Panduranga on Mandatory.
