Niantic Has Started "Taking Action" Against Pokemon Go Cheaters

Beware, Pokemon Go would-be cheaters, Niantic is prepared to lose a few customers in the name of fair play. The Google-backed developer of the wildly popular mobile game has recently stated that they have started taking action against players that shamelessly try to one-up other players using less-than-legal methods. Any player caught cheating will have their accounts terminated, but at least they will receive a courteous notification via e-mail regarding it, so they won't exactly be left in the dark. Niantic also said that their "main priority with Pokémon GO is to provide a fair, fun, and legitimate game experience for all players", which may translate to "everyone gets an equally hard time catching that damned Dragonite".

Niantic, however, did not specify which game actions they consider as cheating, but you can bet that using bots is at the top of their list. Recently, there have also been complaints about players depositing eggs in Gyms for defense. Yes, eggs. Apparently, doing so will allow players to forever keep Gyms for their team, as other rival players won't be able to battle against a poor little egg (check out the video below courtesy of PoGo Marki). Pokemon Go rewards players with in-game currency for every day that they successfully hold a Gym and being able to permanently hold a Gym without breaking a sweat is just plain wrong. Although whoever initially thought about placing an innocent-looking egg to potentially defend against a Gyarados or Charizard may need to have his/her mind checked.

Since Pokemon Go is barely over a month old in existence, there may still be bugs or glitches in the game that unintentionally give players unfair advantages. For instances where players believe they're innocent of any cheating, they can protest it with Niantic. Of course, having to deal with customer support is a lot less favorable, so if you find a particularly useful but broken feature in the game, it would be wise to stop exploiting it ASAP.