For recruiting friends in Pokémon GO, you will soon be rewarded. However, players already smell an opportunity to exploit the system.
What’s new? The developers of Pokémon GO announced that a new program will soon be activated in the game. This is meant to reward you and your friends when they (re)play Pokémon GO. Therefore, if you invite friends who are playing for the very first time, you will be rewarded for it. However, the action also applies to returnees who paused the game for a while.
Players will be rewarded with useful items and Pokémon spawns. However, according to Niantic’s vision, there is a loophole in the system that trainers want to exploit.
This is how the referral program works
When will it come? First, trainers in Australia will be allowed to test the system. If there are progress reports and the referral program is to be rolled out for more players, there will be news about it. So far, no fixed date is known.
How does it work? As a trainer, you receive a referral code. Returning or new players can then enter this code during or after registration. The game then understands that the owner of the referral code has recruited you, and you will both be rewarded with items.
For which players does it apply? For new or returning players. How long the pause must be for returning players has not yet been officially defined.
Who gets rewards? The new or returning player receives rewards like
- Pokémon encounters
- Special candies
- Egg incubators and more
To do this, they must reach “certain milestones” on their adventures, explains Niantic. When that happens, you as the referring player will also receive rewards.
Are you looking for active players for gift exchanges? This is how you find friends in Pokémon GO.
“This screams multi-accounts”
How players are reacting: On reddit, Niantic’s announcement is being hotly discussed. One of the most popular comments there says “Aren’t they asking people to create multiple accounts?”.
Many players agree, saying “Yes, that’s exactly what I thought too”. They are considering creating accounts on second-hand phones, getting “recruited” with them, and then scooping up the free items.
One wonders: How will Niantic find out if that’s a friend of mine or a second account?
No, according to Niantic’s rules, using more than one account per user is considered “cheating”.
On Niantic’s help page, it states:
“In Niantic games, among other things, the following actions are counted as cheating:
[…] playing with multiple accounts (only one account per player is allowed) […]” (Source: Niantic.helpshift.com)
Whether and how Niantic can prove this is unclear. However, you should be aware of this if you want to create multiple accounts. Q
This remains to be seen: Other players are wondering whether the effort would even be worth it to create multiple accounts for themselves to claim rewards.
Because it is still completely unclear how high the rewards will be and what milestones the recruited accounts will have to fulfill.
Whether this effort will be worthwhile for the players is not yet foreseeable at this time. We first have to wait for the tests from the first players in Australia. Based on their feedback, changes will be made to the system before it is activated for everyone.
How do you like the idea of the referral system? Do you think it’s a good motivation to bring back players who have paused Pokémon GO? Or should there be entirely different bonuses for others to return?
