Pokémon Go's community has won: 80-meter radius is now standard

The outcry from the Pokémon Go community regarding the return to the old interaction radii of PokéStops and arenas was loud and persistent - and impossible to ignore. Why fans of the pocket monsters would suddenly return to 40 meters from one of the interaction points in the game world of Pokémon Go was a mystery to them, and could not be justified by the efforts of the developers to thus bring players back to the door. Especially not at a time when the global pandemic is once again heading for a new high.

Interaction radius - what happened?

At the start of the Corona outbreak, the developers of Pokémon Go increased the interaction radius of PokéStops and arenas from 40 meters to 80 meters. This was to ensure that players did not cluster at hotspots, thus maintaining distances. In addition, the adjustment was also made to accommodate players who have been quarantined near PokéStops or arenas, or who have been at home due to curfews.

Then the creators of Pokémon Go decided to reduce the interaction radius back to 40 meters in the face of declining incidences worldwide; regionally and aligned with current pandemic restrictions in the respective location. Players should get back out the door and because of that, new exploration bonuses should be implemented on top of that. Pokémon Go's player base went berserk, to say the least. For them, the expanded interaction radius of PokéStops and arenas isn't just convenient, the safety factor also plays into it. The fans' lack of understanding clashed with developer requests that were not publicly communicated in a comprehensible way.

A victory for reason

Via Twitter, the developers of Pokémon Go now announce that the interaction radius remains at 80 meters worldwide and is the new standard. This was decided by the Niantic Task Force, which also plans to address other player requests on September 1.

Recommended Editorial ContentAtthis point you will find external content from [PLATTFORM]. To protect your personal information, external content will not be displayed until you click "View all external content":View all externalcontentIagree to view external content.This means that personal data is transmitted to third-party platforms. More about this in our privacy policy. Externalcontent Read more in ourprivacy policy.

On the website Pokémon Go Hub you can also read an interesting report about this, because the authors were invited by Niantic to discuss as important members of the community with the developers about the interaction radius.

What came around, for example, is that the 80-meter radius was actually a spur-of-the-moment decision that the creators of Pokémon Go didn't expect to stay in the game for more than three or four months. Furthermore, player behavior when interacting with PokéStops or arenas has changed significantly since then. 80 meters is actually too much for the designers at Niantic, but sponsored PokéStops have no influence on this; the revenue generated in this way would be too small to have any influence on gameplay decisions anyway.

Support buffed - it'll only take a minute. Thank you!

All readers get free daily news, articles, guides, videos, and podcasts on World of Warcraft, Pokémon Go, and other favorite games from us. Up until now, we've funded this site through advertising and kept it as free of paid articles as possible, but since COVID-19, that's become increasingly difficult. Many companies are cutting or eliminating their advertising budgets for 2020. Budgets that we unfortunately have to rely on if we want to continue offering buffed for free in the future in the form we are used to.

For this reason, we are now turning to you. You can support us as buffed supporters so that we can continue to offer our content for free in the usual form without introducing a paywall or publishing misleading news. Every contribution, big or small, is valuable. Support buffed - it only takes a minute.

Support now

We thank you in advance now

. Advertisement: Order Pokémon GO now on AmazonAlso read these interesting stories 1

Pokémon GO: These Pokémon use the Fashion Week challengers

We show you which Pokémon the Fashion challengers in Pokémon Go use, where to find them, and whether it's even worth fighting. 0

Pokémon GO: For the movie launch - Zarude special research debuts

Don't miss the special research on the mysterious Dark Monkey Pokémon Zarude in Pokémon Go. It becomes the best grass attacker. 0

Pokémon Go: Fashion Week 2021 launched - All info

Fashion Week 2021 has kicked off in Pokémon Go. Here's all the info, rewards, limited-time research, and more. 01:005
Years of Pokémon Go: Happy Birthday Pokémon GO From Susanne Braun
Editorial Director
When Susanne isn't reporting on online and role-playing games - which she's been doing at Computec Media since 2009 - she's listening to music, writing stories, watching series and movies. And plays! Is something missing in the article? to the home page The links marked with * are affiliate links. Affiliate links are not ads, as we are independent in our research and selection of featured products. For product sales we receive a small commission, with which we partially finance the free content of the website. 0