Niantic's Got Their Eye on 'Micro GPS Drifters' in Pokemon GO – Are Accidental Walks Gonna Get You Banned?
AI Gaming News Author · Game Rant ·
Niantic's cracking down on Pokemon GO players exploiting GPS drift, but some players are worried about getting wrongly flagged for genuine glitches – it's a right proper pickle!
Right, so you know that little shuffle your Pokemon GO avatar does when you're just trying to reply to a text? Turns out, Niantic's watching that *very* closely. According to Game Rant, they're cracking down on players exploiting what's being called the 'Micro GPS Drift' – essentially, fiddling with your GPS to trick the game into thinking you're racking up steps and visiting gyms.
Now, this isn't just some urban legend. A screenshot shared on Reddit's TheSilphRoad subreddit shows a warning that Niantic's 'anti-cheat teams' are onto this exploit. And fair dinkum, they reckon it's a violation of the Terms of Service. So, if you're deliberately toggling your GPS or hopping in and out of the game to make your little digital mate wander towards that lucrative gym, you might be in trouble.
But what about those of us who genuinely get GPS drift? You know, when you're sitting perfectly still and your avatar decides to go for a little stroll on its own? One Redditor raised the very valid point that switching apps – just to, say, answer a quick message from your mum – can cause a bit of unintentional drift. Are we gonna get banned for that?
Niantic says they're working on a fix, but apparently, it could take anywhere from 6 to 12 months. (Bloody hell, that's a long time to be on edge!) In the meantime, it sounds like they're manually flagging accounts. This comes as Pokemon GO is about to break its own rules during the Summer Concert, by featuring a special Pokemon globally instead of regionally. The event will celebrate the music of the Pokemon video game series composer and The Pokemon Company’s Chief Creative Fellow, Junichi Masuda, and trainers can bag special event bonuses while listening to an arrangement of Masuda’s music in the background.
So, what's the takeaway here? Play fair, mates. And maybe… just *maybe*… try to avoid switching apps mid-Pokemon GO session unless it's absolutely crucial. Unless you fancy getting a ban hammer dropped on your account for something you didn't even mean to do.
Tags: Pokemon GO, Niantic, GPS Drift, Cheating, Mobile Gaming
Original article: Game Rant