Pokemon GO players are accusing Niantic of gaslighting them as they try to clarify information about the game’s weekly bonuses. Every week, players can take advantage of rewards in Pokemon GO to earn extra rewards, including candies, berries, and hearts from their friend’s Pokmon.
Sustainability Week returns to Pokemon GO in a limited-time event, running until April 26 at 8pm. local time. During Sustainability Week 2023, players can evolve a Bounsweet into a Steenee using 25 Bounsweet Candies, and a Steenee can evolve into a Tsareena using 100 Bounsweet Candies. In addition, there will be many bonus activities during the event, including extra gifts for friend Pokemon and distance reduction for certain rewards. However, Niantic may have changed some of these bonuses recently, according to dissatisfied players in the Reddit community.
Reddit user BobathonMcBobface and other Pokemon GO players have accused game developer Niantic of gaslighting them when they contacted support about the ongoing 2023 Sustainability Week event. According to Niantic Support, the half-range rewards for Candy, Candy XL, and Mega Energy were not listed as rewards for the Pokemon GO Sustainability Week 2023 event. Niantic support told BobathonMcBobface not to rely on unofficial sources for information about Pokemon GO events, and encouraged players to visit Niantic’s official channels for more information. However, the official in-game notification for Pokemon GO Sustainability Week 2023 clearly states that the half-distance reward for candies is valid for the duration of the event. As a result, players resent Niantic for potentially inciting the community and lying to them about bonuses that are currently active in Pokemon GO.
Some Pokemon GO players believe that a Niantic support reply to a BobathonMcBobface query may have been copy-pasted from another support query. Although an in-game notification states that the half-range reward is active in Pokemon GO, players believe that Niantic may have secretly changed the reward without notifying the community. As a result, players are unhappy with the way Niantic has handled community inquiries, and some players are now not interested in participating in the Pokemon GO Sustainability Week event.
Miscommunication between Niantic and its community has led to frustration and uncertainty among Pokemon GO players. The community wants Pokemon GO to be in the best shape possible, and clear and consistent lines of communication between Niantic and its players are critical. Players unhappy with Niantic may not bode well for the community’s morale in future Pokemon GO events.
At least, during the 2023 Sustainability Week event, players will still be able to catch Bounsweets in Pokemon GO as originally planned. The Pokemon GO player base can also earn additional rewards for completing field research missions.
Pokemon GO is now available for Android and iOS.