Pokemon Go Developer Apologizes for Accidental Bans and Punishments

Pokemon Go developer Ninatic has revealed that it is currently working to revert bans and punishments that have been given to players incorrectly. The developer addressed the issue on Twitter earlier tonight, while also offering an apology to players for the inconvenience. At this time, it's unclear exactly how many players might have been accidentally banned or suspended, but it seems that many players have contacted Niantic about the issue. Apparently, the change will be implemented regardless of whether or not the player reached out about the problem. Hopefully, the issue will be resolved quickly and fans can get back to enjoying the game!

The Tweet from Niantic can be found embedded below.

We’re working on reverting strikes for some Trainers who incorrectly received punishments on their accounts. This will be done for Trainers automatically, whether or not they have contacted us. We apologize for the error.

— Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) July 27, 2021

Niantic's Tweet was met by a lot of frustration from posters on Twitter. Some claimed that they missed Go Fest as a result of the bans, while others missed out on Raid Battles they wanted to participate in. Many also noted that they tried reaching out to the developer about the problem, but never received replies. The whole situation is very frustrating, and players want to see some improvements made. Clearly, the current method isn't working, and that could result in some frustrated players permanently walking away from the game.

Back in February, Niantic revealed that it had punished five million players worldwide for cheating in games like Pokemon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Ingress. Cheating in these games typically involves the use of hacked software that allows players to do unauthorized things like altering their location, or auto-walking. At the time, Niantic claimed that it has seen more success with warnings as opposed to issuing bans in the game. It's not clear exactly what happened to the players that were scooped up as part of this recent ban, but hopefully Niantic can prevent it from happening again in the future.

Have you received an undeserved ban in Pokemon Go? How would you feel if you were unfairly banned from the game? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!