The developers of Pokémon GO are against unfair play and are taking action against cheating Pokémon with this fun initiative.
In recent months, the Niantic team has repeatedly shown that they are against cheaters in Pokémon GO. Cheaters, for example, can no longer find items in the shop. These players include spoofers and other specific fraudsters who manipulate experience points and acquire new Pokémon in various ways.
Through the latest actions, Pokémon caught through cheats exhibit “strange behavior” and do not behave as expected. Players are very pleased with this new form of punishment and there is great schadenfreude.
Pokémon from cheaters behave “strangely”
The fight against fraudsters in Pokémon GO is welcomed by the “fair” players. Because players who have obtained their monsters through third-party software have long been a thorn in the side of a large part of the community.
With the new initiative against cheaters, Niantic is receiving digital applause on social media. Instead of simply banning cheaters, they are taking the fun out of the game and rendering their Pokémon useless.
On Reddit, NianticGeorge explains how the feature works: “With the announcement of raid battles and the new battle features, we remain committed to providing every trainer with a fair experience full of fun in Pokémon GO. That’s why starting today: Pokémon caught through third-party software (thus bypassing normal gameplay) will be marked in your collection.“
“Additionally, these monsters may not behave as one would expect.”
The Reddit community received this announcement very well. Players are pleased that cheating YouTubers are likely particularly upset about this and that their Pokémon will now be clearly marked as “unfair”. Furthermore, the monsters will be useless for the cheaters when they no longer obey or do “not behave as one would expect.”
There is already much speculation in the comments on this topic about the abnormal behavior. It would be funny, for example, if the attacks of the affected Pokémon were changed to Splash or Struggle.
How exactly this abnormal behavior will affect the game is still unclear. Perhaps some affected cheaters will soon show what unusual traits their monsters have since the update.
Update: 21.06. – First screenshots show how the cheating Pokémon now appear in the collection. This screenshot is from Reddit user KERL0N:
The Pokémon that were caught unfairly have been marked with stripes.
