Some of these already left the game last September, and more are now to follow. However, players are anything but happy about one of them: the interaction radius of Pokéstops and arenas is to be set back from the expanded 80 meters to the original 40 meters. This was started as a test in the USA and New Zealand, but the change is to be rolled back globally bit by bit. Because the community considers this feature indispensable, they wrote an open letter to the developers – and have already received a response.

This is what the Pokémon Go community’s open letter is about.

The Pokémon Go community is more than critical of the retraction of this change and is addressing the developers with an open letter. In addition to a large amount of players shared and “signed” the letter also numerous YouTuber and content creator around the pocket monster spin off.

Specifically, the letter outlines three points of view to show why the interaction radius should remain at 80 meters. In addition to player safety, it is particularly about accessibility and respect. With the increased radius, one simply has more possibilities to interact with Pokéstops and arenas from a safe distance, avoids private terrain, and can continue to do the important social distancing, after all, Corona is far from over.

But new opportunities have also emerged for players with (physical) limitations, which are now being taken away from them. Barriers like stairs were often no longer an obstacle and those who had problems with crowds could now avoid them. The increased radius is also a good thing for uninvolved passers-by: stores and public places no longer become inaccessible due to a mass of players, because people can spread out better.

The open letter therefore concluded with a request to keep the increased radius as a permanent feature in the game. A response is requested by August 9.

This is what developer Niantic says about the request

After all: Developer Niantic wasn’t too shy to answer the players. In terms of content, however, no fan will probably be thrilled with the company’s statement. One is of course happy about the passion of the community and hears the feedback loud and clear. Niantic justifies the retraction of the changes by saying that they want to return to old habits and motivate players to move around again and visit places that are worth exploring.

Regarding the interaction radius, they want to take the following measures: “We are forming an internal cross-domain team to develop proposals to maintain our mission of inspiring players to explore the world together, while we will address specific concerns raised regarding interaction distance. We’ll share the results of this task force by the next in-game – Season change (September 1).”

So the fans did not get a clear answer, instead they independently extended the deadline by almost a month. The players are pessimistic about the statement. Niantic’s answer wasn’t a no, but they didn’t get a yes either. Many see the creation of an internal team as window dressing and speculate that Niantic wants to collect data and weigh up whether they are making losses by withdrawing the feature, which are not offset by the advantages of the lower interaction distance for the company.

So we’ll find out what happens next for Pokémon Go players by September 1. However, since only the US and New Zealand have been affected by the rolled-back changes so far, players in this country can at least still enjoy the 80-meter radius. Have fun!