Stay safe out there, Pokémon catchers: it seems Niantic, the maker of Pokémon Go, is now taking the step of permanently banning players who are caught violating the app's terms of service.
That means no GPS spoofing or any other kind of hack designed to help to cheat at the game. Niantic hasn't made an official announcement but users have noticed the company starting to take action.
Without any public announcement it's not entirely clear what will get you banned and what won't, but if you want to keep catching them all then we'd recommend sticking to the straight and narrow for your Pokémon Go playing.
Honesty is the best policy
There is however a support note on the Niantic website that sheds some light on the matter: "falsifying your location, using emulators, modified or unofficial software and/or accessing Pokémon Go clients or back-ends in an unauthorised manner including through the use of third party software" will all get you the boot, apparently.
"Our goal is to provide a fair, fun and legitimate game experience for everyone," continues the Niantic post. "We will continue to work with all of you to improve the quality of the gameplay, including ongoing optimisation and fine tuning of our anti-cheat system."
If you think you've been banned unfairly, you can appeal, Niantic says. It sounds like the company is cracking down on the makers of these in-game hacks too.
The ultimate Pokémon Go battery test:
Via The Verge
