In Pokémon GO, the last days saw PokéStops and Gyms vanish into thin air. Niantic found a clue to the problem on Reddit and has created a quick hotfix.
A bug in Pokémon GO caused Gyms and PokéStops – poof – to disappear from the game in recent days. They suddenly became invisible. Niantic delivered a hotfix, presumably after the developers read about the problem on Reddit.
Users reported the bug out of fear of being banned
“Spoofing” is a widespread method in Pokémon GO for cheating. Trainers trick the app into thinking they are in a different location. This allows them to catch regional Pokémon from other countries and quickly take over many Gyms.
To stop the cheaters, Niantic carried out 3 major ban waves.
Players who noticed the bug reported a strange phenomenon: they could no longer see Gyms and PokéStops. They were afraid of being registered as “spoofers” and getting banned by Niantic. One of those players, “MartoRedditz,” reported the issue in the subreddit r/TheSilphRoad.
Niantic learned about the bug on Reddit and implemented a hotfix
Niantic promised users to listen more to their community. Therefore, support is now checking platforms that deal with Pokémon GO more frequently.
They found the post about the disappearing Gyms and PokéStops issue. Through a tweet, Niantic announced that they had built a hotfix and thanked the players for their reports.
Niantic wants to work closely with the players and the Pokémon GO community in the future. This hotfix shows that they take their promise seriously.
