A huge ban wave has seemingly occurred in Pokémon GO today (26th October 2024), impacting large amounts of trainers around the globe. Many trainers have been reporting getting hit with a 30 day ban despite not breaking any of the terms of service, spoofing, using third party devices and more.
The reported bans seem to be instant 30 day bans, for trainers who have never previously been banned before. Many reported having a 7 day ban pop up, immediately followed by the 30 day ban. Typically Niantic has issued soft bans and shorter length bans for first time offenders, but on this occasion the bans seemed to primarily be 30 days. Trainers have filed appeals only to be sent automatic responses saying that they were banned due to breaking terms of service and that their ban would not be lifted.
It has reportedly affected mostly those using Android phones, and many trainers have also reported that they were hit with the bans travelling to new areas to do the Gigantamax Max Battles today. Others reported that they took part in a Gigantamax Battle and were then banned immediately after. The most common report seems to be that people were travelling in cars or on subways with their apps open and were then banned. This has left them unable to take part in the G-Max raids today, and has left many feeling incredibly frustrating as they state they have not used any third party software or broken any other terms of service.
It appears that some of these bans are now being reversed, with trainers who were given 30 day bans now being able to log in when they previously couldn’t, with some reporting full access and use of their accounts again. This is despite Niantic Help stating that their bans were being upheld. Some trainers are still reporting some limitations on their accounts, such as being unable to do routes and their friends lists not working, but they are now able to catch Pokémon and spin PokéStops. Hopefully for any legitimate trainers that have been caught up in their ban wave account functionality will be back in full soon.
There has been no word on Niantic on this ban wave, and no comment on what has caused what appears to be genuine players being caught up in it. The community is left baffled by the cause of these bans, and the lack of assistance provided by the appeals process which appears to be automated.
Have you been affected by this ban wave, and are you now able to access Pokémon GO?
UPDATE
Niantic have now confirmed that legitimate trainers accounts were indeed incorrectly banned, and that the bans should have been removed from accounts.
