Beware, Pokémon GO cheaters: Niantic has found a way to call out Pokémon obtained through unofficial means — and it could be quite embarrassing.
In an effort to curb cheating, the developers have revealed that it will start marking Pokémon caught through cheating and will label them with a warning that goes, "may not behave as expected."
Here's What'll Happen To Pokémon Caught Via Cheating
Niantic revealed the new measure in a post on The Silph Road subreddit, with a representative saying Niantic is "staying true on our commitment to ensuring that Pokémon GO continues to be a fun and fair experience for all Trainers." Also, the move cements the company's "continued commitment to maintaining the integrity of our community" further, according to the representative.
Again, all Pokémon caught in any other way apart from normally obtaining them in-game will be marked with a slash in the inventory, and they may not behave as expected. As to what anomalies these said Pokémon might perform remains a question.
Niantic Hates Cheaters
Marking Pokémon comes as the latest step Niantic has implemented to discourage players from taking advantage of third-party services or apps to locate Pokémon within the game, which the company doesn't allow at all. When the app first launch last year, Niantic proceeded to ban Pokémon GO players who faked their GPS locations just to catch more pocket monsters. Recently, the game would allegedly shadowban — or restrict certain features for players in subtle ways — users flagged for using tracker apps by forcing them to encounter only typical or "crappy" Pokémon.
Niantic has also raided down on various unofficial programs before. These third-party services all help the user get a leg up in one way or another, either through bots, tracking and mapping services, and more. Needless to say, Niantic has been quite vocal about its feelings, outright blocking the said programs, permanently kicking out players, and handing down punishments to known cheaters.
As for the potentially misbehaving Pokémon, that brings to mind how high-level monsters in the mainline games would often ignore their trainer's commands until they obtain the necessary gym badges.
It remains unclear what the game would do to Pokémon caught through cheating, however, although we're going to assume that these monsters will likely be less submissive to their trainers going forward. One Reddit user even suggested that the only moves these Pokémon will be able to do are Splash or Struggle, which will surely spoil the Pokémon GO experience.
Expect due coverage when we learn more, of course.
Most Recent 'Pokémon GO' Update
The new measure comes amid Pokémon GO's most significant update in recent memory. Among the new features Niantic has introduced are Raid Battles, which pairs users with other players to combat powerful Pokémon, in addition to a new motivation system for gyms. What's more, Niantic also introduced a bunch of live and in-game events to be held throughout this summer as a celebration of the game's first-year anniversary.
Thoughts about Niantic coming down on Pokémon GO cheaters more aggressively? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
