Niantic, the developer of Pokémon GO, apparently posted a video on Twitter that disappeared shortly after. What was going on?
What was that post about? In the Pokémon GO subreddit, a user shared screenshots of a video that the official Niantic account supposedly posted.
The video reportedly simply encouraged viewers to go outside and explore the world – a type of post that Niantic often shares on social media. However, the video was apparently deleted after about half an hour. The reason: it seemed to show players who were “cheating.”
Here you can see the post, which currently has over 2,600 upvotes and more than 270 comments:
Multiple accounts at once are considered cheating
What is the problem? The post indicates that the video features individuals who technically violate Niantic’s terms of service. For example, one player is shown playing on two phones simultaneously, and another is shown using a split screen to play on two accounts. However, Niantic does not want to see multi-accounting.
These are the official rules: Niantic’s terms of service outline various actions that are considered fraud or cheating. These include, among other points:
Excerpt from the terms of service, via nianticlabs.com
- Playing with different accounts on the same service;
- Sharing accounts;
- Using any methods to change or falsify a device’s location (e.g., through GPS spoofing);
Theoretically, such actions can lead to bans if caught. However, in the video, this was apparently overlooked for a short while – at least until it was deleted shortly after. As of now, neither the original nor an updated version of the video can be found on Niantic’s Twitter.
What does the community say? In the discussion about the error, players are amusing themselves over the mistake. For example, one user writes, “I don’t know how, but Niantic has to be banned from Pokémon GO” (via reddit). Others joke that using multiple accounts is now apparently allowed (via reddit).
Other users are more confused. “Really strange how many random mistakes they make,” writes one user (via reddit).
In recent weeks, there has been increasing criticism of developer Niantic after the popular remote raid passes in the game became more expensive and limited to 5 raids per day. Parts of the community expressed frustration with the changes and hoped for a rollback. So far, however, there are no signs that such a thing is planned.
A report meanwhile indicated that Pokémon GO had likely experienced a decline in revenue due to the changes. Niantic, however, has since responded to this news, stating that this is not correct. More about Niantic’s statement on Pokémon GO revenues can be found here.
