Niantic, the developer of Pokémon GO, has now spoken out about the protests in the USA and has taken a clear position. Players are excited about the statement.
This is what happened: For over a week, there have been riots and protests surrounding the death of African American George Floyd, who died during a brutal police operation.
After various game developers had already reacted, Niantic is now also making a clear statement. They stand for tolerance and show solidarity with the movement.
Niantic donates GO Fest proceeds – Trainers are thrilled
This is what Niantic says: In a long statement, John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, writes to the players. He talks about the ways in which Niantic can support such a movement. They address several points that they now want to implement. Here are some that we present:
- Niantic will donate at least 5 million dollars from ticket sales of the GO Fest 2020 – half of it will be used to support black gaming and AR developers
- They want to commit more to diversity and especially show white people how important tolerance is
- Niantic gives employees 5 paid days a year to engage in charitable projects that may be organized by Niantic itself
Additionally, Hanke encourages his employees as well as the community. They should come together and support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Lastly, the CEO emphasizes that Niantic lives through its community and how important tolerance is there. They want to provide a fair system where all players are welcome.
The complete statement from Niantic can be found on the Twitter profile of the developers.
How are fans reacting to this? The trainers of Pokémon GO are excited about the statement. Some say that while they often criticize Niantic for their work in Pokémon GO, in this case, the developers are doing everything right.
Some players are even surprised. TAMUFootball says, for example, on reddit: “After reading all of this, I’m quite surprised and proud of Niantic for this statement.”
Other trainers are glad that they can support this action with the purchase of the GO Fest ticket. The reddit user rockiesfan4ever says: “Now I feel better when I buy the GO Fest ticket.”
The tickets for the GO Fest are currently not available for purchase. Niantic wants to provide more information before starting sales. You can find information about this here at MeinMMO. Everything we know so far about it can be read in the announcement article for the GO Fest.
