Pokémon GO has been nothing but a massive hit, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. Some enthusiastic individuals decided to take matters into their own hands to address what the game lacks and Niantic has responded by shutting down third-party trackers. This didn't sit well with many players so the developer has taken the time to explain its side of things.
In a post, John Hanke, CEO and founder of Niantic, said that Pokémon GO trackers may appear harmless, but it was actually hurting the developer's ability to bring the game to new and existing players.
The post was accompanied by a vague chart, but it was sufficient to show that a significant drop in server resources consumed was recorded just within an hour of blocking the third-party trackers and other apps accessing the Pokémon GO servers.
According to Hanke, the drop freed up resources, allowing Niantic to proceed with launching Pokémon GO in Latin America. Additionally, addressing the server issue came with opportunity cost, he said.
With developers busy controlling the problem, it takes them away from creating new features that would enrich and improve the game. Not to mention some of the third-party tools and trackers also acted as platforms for bots and other workarounds that negatively impacted all Pokémon GO players.
"There is a range of motives here from blatant commercial ventures to enthusiastic fans but the negative impact on game resources is the same," said Hanke.
He also acknowledged hacking attempts to bring down their service and noted that Niantic doesn't expect that these will stop. However, Hanke wanted Pokémon GO players to understand why they had to do what they had to do and that they will keep doing what is needed to maintain the game's integrity and stability.
Given how the Pokémon GO's first update turned out, players are of the general belief that Niantic is not listening to them. However, Hanke reiterated that feedback from the community is valued and has been heard, adding that Niantic is actively working on the Nearby Pokémon feature.
In response to Niantic's move to shut down third-party Pokémon GO trackers, PokéVision creator Yang Liu penned an open letter to Hanke and Niantic, saying he was simply an enthusiast who made something to tide him over and others until a proper fix was released. When PokéVision was live, it saw 11 million users daily, highlighting the importance of the service Liu provided Pokémon GO players.
