Recently, we published a piece titled Pokémon GO’s new Avatar update is (unfortunately) live, covering the new Avatars system that Niantic launched on April 17, 2024 in Pokémon GO, despite negative beta feedback, and a large number of visual issues and bugs.
The reaction to this article was unprecedented, with hundreds of supportive reader comments on our X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook accounts, our Discord server, and in private messages, and emails.
We wish to thank our readers for this support, and for reading our articles, and sticking with us throughout the years. We are humbled to have you all, and we are honoured to write for you.
What is happening in the background
While the online support for our criticism was strong, we were still not sure if Niantic will actually hear our feedback on the problems with this feature, or simply ignore the commentary. Luckily, a company representative asked for feedback, and we are pleased to say that the following is now true:
- Niantic has asked for, collected, and acknowledged the feedback given by our readers and fellow content creators, influencers, and members of the online community (Redditors, Discord members, etc)
- A high ranking Niantic has shared the following statement:
We’re sending all of your feedback to the Product Team, and the folks who worked on the Avatar system, we’re taking this seriously and really appreciate you sharing your candid personal opinions / follower opinions.
- Some visual issues have been already addressed, most of the issues fixed are the ones that result in NSFW imagery in the game.
- Niantic has made no promises on the future course of the Avatar system, nor have they made any promises about reverting it, but they have received all of our feedback (including all of yours), and have confirmed that they are taking it seriously.
Because we send more than 10 key points of what we don’t like about the new system, we won’t go into the specifics of what the entirety of our feedback was – it would make this post unnecessarily long and tiring.
It suffices to say this: keep writing, keep sending your feedback to Niantic, and Niantic Support, continue commenting on Reddit, and other media platforms. We hopefully have a say in this, and in the end, maybe everyone’s efforts will come to fruition.
The great thing is that Niantic is listening and acknowledging that there is a problem, with some CMs even going out of their way to check in with the community:
Thanks for all the feedback! I appreciate the critical thoughts (both the good and the bad), and I've circulated it back to the team. Shutting replies off on that post for now! https://t.co/B23NtJsT39
— Mx. Kestrel Riot, GO Rocket Boss (@MxKestrel) April 19, 2024
P.S. If by any chance Mr. John Hanke is reading this post, please check in on this feature boss. It needs some work.
Disclaimer
- This post is not endorsed by Niantic, it is not their public opinion, and it is definitely not an official stance on the future of the Avatar’s system.
- This post is just us reporting on the happenings of the past two days, and lifting the curtain ever so slightly for our readers. A lot of our readers think their feedback was in vain, and we want to assure them it was not.
