Pokemon Go fans are angry Niantic is removing pandemic changes

Developer Niantic has announced that the Pokemon Go Gym and PokeStop interaction distance increases introduced to help players cope with the pandemic and keep playing safely are being removed, first in the United States and New Zealand. The rolling back of the Pokemon Go PokeStop and Gym increased distance update has deeply upset fans across the world, who believed the change only helped the game and its players.

What are the Pokemon Go Gym and PokeStop interaction distance changes?

Niantic introduced multiple changes to help players carry on playing Pokemon Go during the lockdown and the coronavirus pandemic, however the developer has now announced that it plans to roll back those changes, most notably “PokéStop and Gym interaction distances were increased, to enable people to engage from further away.” These changes will come into play in the US and New Zealand first, shortly after Pokemon Go Fest next month. This decision has not gone down well with fans

https://twitter.com/PkmnMasterHolly/status/1407150327573352448

There is currently a petition on Change.org that went live earlier today and passed 15,000 at the time of writing, and it’s quickly increasing. The post about it on the Pokemon Go subreddit has over 22,000 up-likes as of now. Other than the concerns that the pandemic still isn’t over, many players believe that the change simply helped improve the game — particularly for fans in more remote rural areas who have trouble traveling, or to disabled gamers who can’t walk as far.

In other Pokemon news, the release date for Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl has been revealed for later this year, with pre-order bonuses probably planned for when the release gets a bit closer. As for the most recent Pokemon game, New Pokemon Snap on Switch, our reviewer called it “a missed opportunity to do something other than beat Pokemon up.” Check out that review here.