Since the map update in Pokémon GO, the island of Salamis has been abandoned: No Pokémon are spawning in the area. What happened?
This is why the Pokémon disappeared: In March 2019, Update 0.137.1 was released. This included changes to the OSM map. Niantic uses this map to create the game world.
However, during this transition, a problem occurred. Some locations in the game became essentially unplayable. This was due to the areas in the OSM map receiving a designation that blocks spawns – for example, nature reserves. This is exactly what happened in the case of the island of Salamis – and it has not been fixed to this day.
Seven months without Pokémon
This is the situation on the island now: The reddit user “Giannhsblazer“, who also pointed out the issue back in March, has now posted an update on the situation. And it is bleak: The island has apparently been without any spawns for seven months.
This is likely due to the Saronic Gulf being tagged as a natural bay in the OSM map – including the islands of Salamis, Aegina, Angistri, and Poros. This led to the spawns in this area being blocked.
Source: GiannhsBlazer/reddit
In OSM, the tag has apparently been fixed, but in Pokémon GO players are still waiting for an update regarding Salamis. The island remains without spawns for the time being.
Can you still play Pokémon GO on Salamis? Basically yes. Because: Arenas and PokéStops still exist. Capturing arenas and conducting raids is therefore possible. Only catching wild Pokémon is currently extremely limited.
This makes the game naturally not even half as fun. And the community on the island misses the game: “Dear community, for the sake of the game that brings us all together: We and the communities of the other three islands need your help,” writes “Giannhsblazer” on reddit: “We just want to hunt for spawns with our friends.”
How are Niantic and the community reacting?
This is what the players say: The reddit post is filled with comments from trainers who want to help draw Niantic’s attention to the problem. They recommend contacting support – if necessary with group emails. However, this has apparently fallen on deaf ears so far.
This is how Niantic has reacted so far: Niantic has essentially not reacted at all. As Giannhsblazer reports, in most cases automated responses from bots reply to the island’s inquiries. If a real person does respond, the responses are limited to: “The issue is known. Please enjoy the game in other locations while we attempt to fix it.”
The players’ reactions to these responses are very dissatisfied. A solution to the problem does not seem to be in sight for the time being.
Soon the first legendary Pokémon from Generation 5 should appear. And they are quite strong:
