Rural & disabled Pokemon Go players band together amid boycott

The Pokemon Go community has banded together to show their support for disabled and rural players affected by the Remote Raid Pass changes.

The conversation surrounding Niantic’s recent update to Remote Raid Passes in Pokemon Go has enveloped the community since the developer made the announcement on March 30, 2023.

As many felt the changes were harmful to the overall experience, players protested the update in a variety of ways, including a massive Change.org petition and even completely uninstalling the game.

Now that the changes have officially arrived, Pokemon Go fans are voicing their support for those most affected by the changes: disabled players and those who live in rural areas of the world.

Pokemon Go players voice support for disabled & rural players

The discussion surrounding these groups of players have been prevalent on social media, with members of the game’s community speaking out about how these changes may affect their favorite hobby going forward.

A thread on the Pokemon Go subreddit titled “Thank you – From a Disabled, rural player,” garnered a lot of attention among fans, thanks to the heartfelt and thoughtful response of one trainer.

The post details the OP’s personal struggles with their disability, the realities of playing a game like Pokemon Go as a person with a disability, and why they feel the restrictions being placed on Remote Raid Passes feel unfair.

The full post is certainly worth a read, but the trainer ends it by thanking the community for showing they care. “Thank you for standing up for me, for people like me, and for other people who can’t play in the way Niantic wants to push us to. It’s nice to feel seen in a world where I am at best invisible or ignored, and at worst, targeted for not existing like everyone else.”

Others in similar situations voiced their appreciation and support in the comments as well, with some trainers even sharing stories of friends and relatives who feel affected by these new changes.

“Level 50 urban player here. I put countless hours into this game. I uninstalled last night. I have a disabled cousin who loves this game and I couldn’t stand how upset this was making her. I won’t reinstall until Niantic hears us,”

Over the past few days prominent members of the Pokemon community, like the team behind Bulbagarden, and accessibility advocates like AbleGamer‘s Steven Spohn, have spoken out about these changes and the potentially harmful impact they may have.

While there’s no guarantee Niantic will reverse the changes made to Remote Raid Passes, trainers should continue to respectfully voice their concerns in the hopes that change will come in time.