Pokemon Go Cheaters Get Banned After 3 Strikes: Niantic

Augmented reality game Pokemon Go for Android and iOS has received a new three-strike discipline policy brought in to keep cheaters in check. Pokemon Go developer Niantic outlined how erring players would be treated on its blog. It claims that the policy will allow for a series of disciplinary action with increasing severity and multiple opportunities for offenders to change their behaviour and have them back in the game. If offenders continue to cheat, they would be removed from the game. Niantic defines cheating as behaviour that violates the game's terms of service and trainer guidelines. This includes spoofing GPS and accessing Pokemon Go game files with third-party software or add-ons.

"A strike serves as a warning. Everyone can make mistakes. That’s why we have created this policy to enable offenders to learn from their mistakes and change their ways. If you have been issued a strike, don’t ignore it. Take action to ensure that you do not commit any further transgressions," Niantic's post reads.

Pokemon Go cheating punishments and durations

Strike 1: Warning

Disciplinary actions: If this strike is issued, you will see a warning message within the Pokemon Go app informing you that we have detected cheating on your account.

In addition to this warning, your gameplay experience may be degraded in the following ways for the duration of the warning:

• You may not be able to encounter rare Pokemon in the wild. These Pokemon may not appear on the map or on the Nearby Pokemon tracker. 
• You may be excluded from receiving new EX Raid Passes.

Duration:This strike will last for approximately 7 days. After this period, your gameplay experience will fully be restored.

Strike 2: Suspension

Disciplinary actions:If your account is issued a second strike, you will temporarily lose access to your Pokemon Go account. When attempting to log into the game, you’ll be presented with a message stating that your account is suspended. You will not be able to bypass this message.

Duration:This strike will last for approximately 30 days. After that period, your account access will be restored.

Strike 3: Termination

Disciplinary actions: If you receive the first and second strikes and continue to cheat, your account will be permanently banned.

Duration:Permanent

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