In Pokémon GO there is currently a large wave of bans against seemingly innocent players. Apparently, only players with a Xiaomi phone are affected.
This is the ban wave: On Reddit, more and more players report that they have received a 30-day ban or a warning from Pokémon GO.
The common factor here: All players are using a device from Xiaomi. Currently, reactions from Niantic regarding the situation are awaited.
Unjust Ban? Niantic does not respond
This is what players report: On Reddit, players are actively exchanging thoughts about the wave of bans and it is noticeable that most players seem to have installed software update 10.3.2 on their Xiaomi devices. It seems that Niantic views part of this update as a violation of their guidelines. However, these are just speculations from players so far.
How does Niantic respond to this? So far, there has been no real reaction to the problem. Many players have reportedly already contacted support, but received no response or only sporadic ones.
This is not the first time Niantic has had issues with their banning system. Recently, they banned several accounts without apparent reason in January. These players later received compensations in the game and of course got their accounts back.
What can affected players do now? Currently, one can only wait for reactions from Niantic. Those who own a Xiaomi device and have not yet applied the problematic software update should not do so now. The risk of getting banned here is high.
Affected players have already set up a Google Document where other players can sign up. There, it can be checked whether other devices have also been banned without the affected update.
Those looking for friends in Pokémon GO who live far away should check this out:
