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Pokemon fans play by the mantra I have to catch them all but they want to catch fictional pocket monsters, not COVID.
Then, during the coronavirus pandemic, Pokemon Go developer Niantic tweaked some features of the game to allow players to participate safely from home. Rather than having to walk around local parks and neighborhoods to catch virtual Pokemon that appear to appear in the real world thanks to augmented reality (AR) technology and geolocation tracking, the player could still see many Pokemon spawning while taking cover on the place at home.
Also, they shouldn’t always walk to real-world spots that also double as virtual play places (called gyms and PokeStops) to fight Pokemon with superpowers or collect free items to enhance their gameplay. Niantic has doubled the range for how close you would have to be in real life to reach these game hotspots (40 meters to 80 meters, or about 131 feet to 262 feet), so players can potentially reach a gaming gym. nearby or PokeStop from their home.
But as many parts of the US have reopened as states have seen COVID cases decrease, the game is rolling out some of these home bonuses. The distance to reach Gyms and PokeStop will be doubled to the normal distance and Incense (a game item for luring multiple Pokemon to one location) will also see its effectiveness weakened if a player is stationary. Changes will begin in the US and New Zealand towards the end of July for testing and these updates will roll out to other countries and territories as it is safe to do so.
These moves seem to encourage users to move and start playing outdoors again; it’s called Pokemon Go, after all. And the game adds new exploration bonuses to reward people who play outdoors.
But many players have used Twitter TWTR, + 2.57% to remind Niantic that the pandemic is not over yet, bringing the developer name to the trend on Tuesday morning. In what world without pandemic does niantic [sic] live in, wrote one.
I’m seriously so close to giving up on this game another player added.
I am now convinced that the people who work at Niantic actually live under a rock, wrote another.
Indeed, while new cases of COVID are on the decline in many parts of the United States, the country has just passed 602,000 COVID deaths and 30 states are likely to miss President Biden’s goal of having 70% of the population adult receives at least one dose of the vaccine. by July 4th.
Furthermore, there are fears that COVID-19 variants and in particular the Delta variant, detected in 74 countries, could slow the recovery.
Coronavirus Update: WHO Warns Poorest Countries Are Not Receiving Equal Share of COVID Vaccine Supply As Colombia Over 100,000 Deaths
Also, some people suffering from FOGO or cave syndrome aren’t quite ready to go back out there yet. And even though the US travel industry has somewhat recovered, Americans are still reluctant to get on a plane.
Niantic was not immediately available for comment, but wrote in a blog post that:
We are committed to doing this on a staggered basis, when it makes sense for every place in the world, to help people play safely. When we return to the outside world again, these changes aim to bring Pokmon GO’s focus back to movement and exploration in the real world. These changes will be introduced slowly and carefully to make exploring the world around you more exciting.
Pokemon Go broke records when it debuted in 2016, grossing $ 207 million during its July 2016 release and setting the Guinness World Record for most of the revenue a mobile game grossed in its first month. And while its first daily user numbers have plummeted from its peak of 28.5 million in those early days, the game has maintained a dedicated player base that will shell out a ton of real money in the virtual games store. In fact, Pokmon Go made $ 1.92 billion in revenue in 2020, according to game research firm SuperData.
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