Even though the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over, Niantic decided to rollback Pokemon GO measures like PokeStop and Gym interaction distance to pre-pandemic levels in regions like North America and New Zealand at the beginning of August 2021. Players spoke out, citing safety concerns, and even issued a boycott. Initially, the company only announced a task force that would offer results at the start of September 2021. Now, it restored the distance from 40 meters to 80 meters again.
The 80 meter interaction distance for the Pokemon GO PokeStop and Gym markers is now back in effect. Though in the case of New Zealand, it was restored back on August 17, 2021 when the country went to Alert Level 4.
Here’s Niantic’s official statement. The company will apparently make more announcements based on its task force findings on September 1, 2021. However, it decided to roll out the Pokemon GO PokeStop and Gym interaction distance update in North America immediately.
Thank you to everyone who made your voices heard. We’ve heard you and understand that this has been a welcome benefit to many players. We’ll share more next week. (2/2)
— Pokémon GO (@PokemonGoApp) August 25, 2021
Pokemon GO is available for Android and Apple iOS devices.
