The Pokemon Go community has struggled to understand why Niantic isn’t banning what they believe to be obvious cheaters, which prohibits their guidelines.
This comes after a player revealed a screenshot showing everyone but themselves using duplicate accounts to rank highly in the Showcase Leaderboards. Under the Niantic ToS, “Playing with multiple accounts” has been classified as one of the many forms of cheating in Pokemon Go.
The OP Fumebound was positioned in 5th place; however, a player called “Macgyver” and “Babb” held all the other top spots, with the only difference being the end digit. Fumebound asked: “Why does Niantic turn a blind eye to cheaters in this game?” as many trainers shared their frustrations.
Various players gave their reasons, as several accused them of gaining monetary benefits. “They want money and data (which equates to more money for them). They seem to worry more about flying around to region-locked Pokemon and events, but even then, they’re not the best at countering it.”
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Another added, “Some of the cheaters spend lots of money on the game. Instead of $10 for one account, they are spending $10 each on five accounts. $50 is better than $10 for Niantic.”
Several remained unconvinced, “Even when you can prove cheating, Niantic doesn’t care.” A separate trainer explained their situation: “Niantic doesn’t care about this. It annoys me because one couple dominates every showcase in my town. I personally know them and know it’s their accounts because she has told me.”
Even though not everyone agrees that using multiple accounts in Pokemon Go is a form of cheating, it has been clearly stated in Niantic’s guidelines for years. It has also been commonly paired with the most prominent cheat of all, spoofing, to exploit the player reward system and dominate Gyms.
