Pokemon GO will keep its extended 80m interaction radius going forward

Ben Bayliss2 minute read

Niantic will keep Pokemon GO’s interaction radius set to 80 meters for players going forward, backtracking from plans to reduce it.

After increasing Pokemon GO’s interaction radius during the start of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Niantic announced earlier this year that it would be reverting the change now that the world is opening back up again. Following many players reaching out to encourage the studio to keep the extended radius, Niantic has now confirmed that it is canceling plans to shrink it.

“From now on, 80 meters will be the base interaction radius for PokeStops and Gyms globally” the tweet explained. “We’ve heard you, and understand that this has been a welcome benefit to many players.” the account continued. More information will be shared next week.

When Pokemon GO first launched back in 2016, the world was overjoyed with being able to venture out and hunt down Pokemon. Although, for many disabled players, the requirement to venture out into the real world to discover PokeStops, Pokemon, GYMs, and more, meaning that they were at a loss. When COVID-19 hit and plunged the world into lockdowns, Niantic expanded the radius needed, allowing players to remain in their homes and still visit the majority of the game’s interactive elements.

With a large majority of the world lifting lockdown measures, Niantic announced that it would start to roll back changes to encourage outdoor exploration again. Since then, disabled players and those that don’t feel safe venturing out into the public right now have been asking for the changes to remain.

With the game now looking to keep its extended radius as the new base distance, more players will be able to enjoy the game comfortably and safely.

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Ben
BaylissEditor-in-ChiefHe/Him

Ben is the one in charge of keeping the content cogs at Can I Play That? turning. Deafness means that he has a focus on discussing captions, but with experience in consultancy and advocacy, he covers what bases he can. Having written about accessibility in video games at DualShockers, GamesRadar+, GamesIndustry.biz, Wireframe, and more he continues his advocacy at CIPT. He was actually awarded a Good Games Writing award for an article he wrote here! He enjoys a range of games, but anything that’s open-world and with a photo mode will probably be his cup of tea. You can get in touch with him at: ben@caniplaythat.com

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