Pokemon GO now seems to be hiding rare Pokemon from cheaters
Cheating in Pokemon GO is something Niantic has been trying to address since the game launched last year. Within the past few days, the studio appears to have put a new security measure in place to address the situation. Players who are classified as cheaters will find that rare Pokemon are now hidden.
Here’s a look at a warning message some users have been receiving:
What’s happening here amounts to a “shadowban”. Even if cheaters are in the same area as others, they’ll only come across common Pokemon. An ongoing list of Pokemon involved is located here.
The tricky part about the situation is that Pokemon GO is flagging those who use third-party apps like tracking maps that tell players what creatures appear in a given area. In Niantic’s view, this is cheating. Many players use these kinds of apps though. Additionally, some players claim that they haven’t been cheating, but have been hit with a shadowban regardless.
