For a few days now, Niantic has released a new game called Peridot. However, you should not delete your account for this game if you want to continue playing Pokémon GO. We at MeinMMO explain what has happened.
What game is it about? On May 9, 2023, the developers of Pokémon GO released a new AR game: Peridot. In this game, you must take care of a little Peridot, a mix between a pet and a pocket monster, similarly to a Tamagotchi. You will play with it, feed it, or teach it tricks.
However, not everyone is fond of the game, which is why some have already decided to delete it. But you should be careful, as a Pokémon GO trainer has recently shown on social media. We explain to you what happened.
Update from May 15: Niantic has since addressed the issue itself. We have updated our article accordingly to include their statement.
Deleting Peridot affects Pokémon GO
What does Peridot have to do with Pokémon GO? Among many other players, Twitter user Misipeka619_ has tried out the new Niantic game Peridot. However, she decided to delete her account. This was a fatal mistake, as she later realized – and thus sought help from Niantic through social media.
According to her, she deleted her Peridot account but can no longer log into Pokémon GO. In her tweet, she shows an image of her failed login, which indicates checking whether the account even exists.
She writes (via twitter.com): “I guess when I tried to delete my account for @playperidot, my Pokémon GO account was deleted too. @NianticHelp please help me with this. I tried to contact through the website and only received automated replies.”
Are there other similar cases? Yes, Twitter user Misipeka619_ is by no means alone with this problem, as other trainers are also writing on social media that they have experienced the same issue. User KillerCory almost fell into this trap as he explains on Reddit:
I almost made the same mistake. When you want to delete your account in Peridot, it simply states that you are deleting your Peridot account, it does not mention that other games are affected. You receive an email to confirm the deletion, and what prevented me was the sentence stating that my current email address could no longer be used for Niantic. Still, I think the wording for deletion in the app itself could be better.
KillerCory via reddit.com
Why was access to Pokémon GO also removed?
Trainers suspect a cross-game account: The various Niantic games have been interconnected in the background for some time now. For example, in Pokémon GO, friends you added in another game by the developers, like Ingress, are automatically displayed if they are also playing that other game. You can also see the connections in Campfire.
If you are already playing another Niantic game and register for Peridot with the same email address, it will be recognized by the system that you already have an account with Niantic. Now, trainers suspect due to the issue that the login is also affected.
They assume that there are actually no standalone accounts, but that this is more of a Niantic account. If you delete this, it will always have an impact on all games you played through that account.
We will show you more about Peridot, the new game from Niantic, in the following video:
Statement from Niantic: For this reason, we asked Niantic about this on May 12, whether this is really the case and requested an appropriate statement. In the meantime, Niantic has publicly addressed the issue on their blog and guided us accordingly. They write the following:
We have noted that there is some confusion between deleting an account and deleting a login method. We want to assure you that deleting your Niantic account in one game does not delete your accounts in other Niantic games.
Recently, some Peridot holders have disconnected their login methods from their Peridot accounts, temporarily preventing them from logging into other games like Pokémon GO. The Niantic support team has helped these holders and trainers restore access to their Pokémon GO accounts, and we have implemented a security measure to maintain at least one non-game-specific login method (e.g., Google, Facebook, or Apple login) for players of multiple Niantic games to avoid further issues.
Niantic via niantic.helpshift.com
Trainers express criticism of this approach
Poor communication and implementation: This approach has also led to significant criticism in the community. Some trainers point out that it is not clearly stated in the notifications that deleting a game account also results in deleting all other Niantic games.
Therefore, they demand clearer warnings. Generally, many find it incomprehensible why no standalone accounts are used. For this reason, you can read the following comments on Reddit (via reddit.com):
- Quackoverride: “The user in me wonders: ‘Couldn’t they just add a warning dialog?’ But it’s Niantic, so no, they really can’t.”
- AntiChris_666: “Even though I was surprised by this, it shouldn’t be: Of course, it is very convenient for Niantic to combine the data from both apps. They already have a lot of usage and location data from us who play Pokémon GO. Now they can enrich this with Peridot data. […] From a business perspective, it makes absolute sense to combine the data from both games into one large user profile. But still, that shouldn’t mean that both apps use the same account. It just looks like another sloppy mistake that keeps happening, as if they had no QA team at all…”
For Misipeka619_, the story ultimately turned out well. As she writes in the comments, she has been able to reactivate her access to Pokémon GO, but still wants to warn other players with her story (via twitter.com).
Have you ever lost your Pokémon GO account? And how did you get it back? Feel free to let us know here on MeinMMO in the comments and discuss it with other trainers.
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