Niantic Decides to Ban Cheaters in Pokémon Go

Beware of playing tricks in PokemonGo. If you violate terms of service (ToS), you may get permanent ban on playing the sensational game. Niantic Labs, PokemonGo game maker, is banning players who violate its terms of service. The developer behind mobile sensation Pokémon Go, says those who use bots or cheater apps to play the game may have no recourse. Niantic has announced its decision to ban cheaters of the game in an update to its terms of service page.

However, the terms of services vary. It’s observed that the bans were directed at cheaters who use GPS spoofing, bots, and other software techniques that allow Pokémon Go to be played beyond the realm of Niantic’s design parameters. GPS spoofing enables the users to trick a smartphone into thinking you’re located in a different country, allowing you to catch Pokémon that may be more easily located in that area or restricted to certain regions. Bots, on the other hand, helps you automate portions of the game.

But, it’s not limited to falsifying the location, using emulators, modified or unofficial software and/or accessing Pokémon GO clients or backends in an unauthorized manner including through the use of third party software.

GPS spoofing enables the users to trick a smartphone into thinking you’re located in a different country, allowing you to catch Pokémon that may be more easily located in that area or restricted to certain regions. Bots, on the other hand, helps you automate portions of the game.

Niantic Labs said its goal is to provide a fair, fun and legitimate game experience for everyone. “We will continue to work with all of you to improve the quality of the gameplay, including ongoing optimization and fine tuning of our anti-cheat system. If you believe your account has been terminated in error incorrectly, you can appeal that termination through this form,” said Niantic.

Niantic Labs plans to discover who’s cheating. Its language is vague (Niantic doesn’t advise against certain apps), and it’s not clear what technology it may use to discover if the players of the game are actually cheating.

Niantic Inc, a San Francisco-based software development company, is best known for developing and publishing the augmented reality mobile games Ingress and Pokémon Go. Nintendo has a $30-million partnership with Niantic and the Pokemon Company to create the game. Nintendo also owns 33 percent of The Pokémon company. Niantic is the developer and the one who pays the bill for server for PokemonGo game. Google and Apple make PokemonGo game available for millions of players globally. Pokemon franchise is the creator of pokemon game.