Pokemon GO Isn't Great in Rural Areas

Millions of fans are giving Pokemon GO a try, but some fans are noticing some major setbacks in certain areas. Fans living in rural areas are complaining that they often have to travel miles to find Pokemon or Pokemon gyms.

Part of the issue is that Pokemon GO, like Niantic Labs' previous game Ingress, uses real world maps and population info. Many of Pokemon GO's gyms and PokeStops were ported over from Ingress, which means if an area didn't have many Ingress players, Pokemon GO may also be deficient.

The game also seems to spawn Pokemon based on how many players are nearby, so less populated areas will have far less Pokemon than the middle of major metropolises.

Interestingly, Niantic CEO John Hanke mentioned playing Pokemon GO in rural areas in a 2015 interview with VentureBeat. "I feel like we've learned a lot of lessons from Ingress that we'll bring to Pokémon," Hanke said. "We'll make sure you can play it everywhere."

Hopefully, Niantic Labs will address this issue in an future update. Pokemon GO deserves to be enjoyed by everyone.