In Pokémon GO there is stress about trainers’ usernames. Some players report that their name suddenly changed, even though they did nothing.
Many trainers connect something personal with their username, and it would be unfortunate if the name suddenly changed without warning. However, this is exactly what happened to some players, who are now bringing attention to the issue on reddit.
Apparently without reason, Niantic is changing their usernames or adding some numbers to the name. The trainers are baffled.
By Niantic’s design or a nasty bug?
This is what trainers are reporting: The reddit user MrNPlay writes that his name was suddenly changed. He has had the name since the start of the game, and it is his real name, so there can’t be any violation.
Furthermore, he never cheated or gave his account to someone else. Nevertheless, his name in Pokémon GO has suddenly disappeared, and he does not understand why this happened.
The trainer fauxfires speaks up in another thread and reports something similar. His name simply got a “3” added at the end, even though he never requested this change.
In the comments below, dozens of other players are also reporting similar cases. They simply have a “3” at the end of their names.
Are there already responses from Niantic? The developers have remained silent about these incidents. Neither on Twitter nor on reddit has the support team made any statements.
Have there been similar cases before? The sudden changing of usernames is a completely new problem. However, Niantic has already dealt with similar cases in the past.
For example, accounts were completely banned, even though the trainers did not violate guidelines. Other trainers received warnings from Niantic that they were in violation of the guidelines and would be banned if they continued.
Now, the changed usernames seem to be a completely new case. It remains to be seen whether Niantic will find a solution for this.
In Pokémon GO, there may soon be other ways to earn coins:
