'Pokemon Go' Cheats And Hacks Take Hit As Niantic Bans, Threatens Mobile Moddders

“Pokemon Go” cheats and hacks in the form of bots may not be around too much longer. Secondhand accounts say that the Niantic development team has begun banning, and even threatening, mobile modders.

Evidence of action against bots first emerged on the Necrobot Github page, where the tool’s developers left a very clear message signaling a cease in support. It reads “due to legal action being started against other bot creators/devs, the project development will be stopped.” As a result, the bot’s source files will be removed. Since that news went live, A Reddit thread has also been created for those impacted by the bans.

For those not aware of the “Pokemon Go” hacking scene, many players got comfortable using software like Necrobot to help them cheat in the game. The mods not only aided in catching Pokemon, but they also hatched eggs quickly and automatically evolved monsters. Possibly most damaging of all, however, is that users were able to spoof their GPS to appear anywhere in the entire world. In other words, all of the game’s creatures could be instantly obtained without leaving the house.

Not only do cheats such as these totally defeat the collective purpose of “Pokemon Go,” but they’ve also been negatively impacting the experiences of others as well. One common example is that a trainer taking advantage of a bot can easily claim gyms with ridiculously leveled Pokemon. Because of the artificially inflated stats, those playing fairly have had a hard time in battle.

It’s these sorts of problems that have led Niantic to enact the present ban wave. While the news is just starting to come in now, it looks like punishments are being doled out in a few different ways. Cheaters may be barred from using Pokestops, catching Pokemon or logging in altogether. It remains to be seen how Niantic will clean up hacked gyms.

As with most mobile ban systems, Niantic is also cognizant that some players may be restricted from access due to a false positive. Should that happen, the developer has created a support page here.

Removing cheaters from “Pokemon Go” is just one of a few measures that Niantic has taken to bring lapsed trainers back to the game. A new update was also recently dispatched that introduces a refreshed tracking feature to the experience.

“Pokemon Go” is available now on Android and iOS.

How do you feel about Niantic cracking down on “Pokemon Go” cheaters? Have you ever considered using hacks? Tell us in the poll and comments section!