Niantic Punishes 5 Million Players for Cheating, Including 'Pokemon Go Players'

Sieeka Khan, Tech Times 24 February 2021, 12:02 pm

Throughout the years, there have been efforts to stop game cheaters from getting away with their behavior. Now Niantic, the company behind "Pokemon" has announced that their efforts to trace and punish cheaters have amazing results.

Niantic punishes 'Pokemon' cheaters

Niantic has launched its own AntiCheat efforts and was able to crack down players who used altered data in "Pokemon Sword and Shield" and "Pokemon HOME."

The company talked about the efforts on their official blog post, and they offered an update on their progress as well as mention "Pokemon Go."

Also Read: 'Pokemon Sword & Shield': Top Psychic-Type Pokemon You Can Use to Defeat Gym Masters

According to Niantic, they don't talk much about their anti-cheat efforts because, as much as possible, they don't want to give the cheaters the information that can help them understand the process and Niantic's detection mechanisms.

However, the company assures the public that their reluctance to share is not because of lack of effort or their intent from their side. They have made a commitment with all of their players towards promoting fair gameplay, preserving the integrity of their games, and improving transparency with the players.

The company confirmed that they had issued punishments to at least 5 million game cheaters since last year. The company also revealed that 20% of these punishments led to permanent bans from the platform.

The ban applies to all of Niantic's games and not just "Pokemon Go," so that includes "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite" and "Ingress."

Niantic also revealed that 90% of the cheaters stopped after they received their first warning, stating that they have continued trying to find the right balance that is dependent on the severity of the incident, according to GoNintendo.

Niantic stated that they are still committed to improving their system's detection methods, and they are currently discussing new features in "Ingress" to defeat cheats.

Whether "Pokemon Go" will get similar features is not clear, though given the company's recent efforts, it is possible it may be applied in the future.

Niantic's cheating policy

Niantic is very strict with its policy and prohibits any form of cheating. The company takes the appropriate steps to improve its anti-cheat measures.

Cheating in the platform includes any action that attempts to alter or actually alter or interfere with their service's regular behavior. Cheating includes accessing services in an unauthorized manner, including using third-party software, playing with different accounts for the same service, and sharing accounts.

Using techniques to alter a device's location or selling and trading accounts is also considered cheating.

Apps may not work on some devices that Niantic detects or reasonably suspects to being used to cheat. Niantic will also not provide support to those who attempt to cheat, and if they call customer service, that will be on the record.

Under the terms and conditions of the platform, players are required to agree that the company may employ any needed mechanisms to detect and respond to any cases of fraud, cheating, and other prohibited behavior. This includes checking your device for the existence of exploits or unauthorized software.