Can you imagine if your 7-year-long Pokemon Go account progress was gone forever out of nowhere? All those Shinies, Event-exclusive Pokemon, and even the Friend List you’ve collected lost in just one fell swoop? Unfortunately for Reddit user Muddy0258, he doesn’t have to imagine it — he’s living that personal gamer nightmare.
Last week, Muddy0258 was abruptly logged out of Pokemon GO, and all available account sign-in methods had mysteriously gone. Although not a hardcore player, they admit that the game has become a part of their daily routines when asked by other concerned players. Suddenly not being able to participate and missing out on ongoing events like Varoom Eggs “really sucks,” they added.
They immediately reached out to Niantic’s customer support, only to receive a disheartening response. The support team informed him that his email was no longer associated with the account and revealed that recent log-in information changes indicated a potential compromise.
Sure, a random email ended up tied into their account, but Muddy0258 managed to verify the ownership of their Pokemon Go account easily. This time, though, Niantic support told them that the account had allegedly violated the terms of service in the past. Muddy0258 was shocked, as he couldn’t recall ever receiving terms of use violation during his 7-and-a-half years of dedicated Pokemon GO play.
Despite the player’s pleading, the game developer won’t tell them what triggered the terms of service violation. All the company said was that the canned “We are unable to discuss the details of the punishment” response. And with that, the frustrating exchange with Niantic support ended to a screeching halt.
I asked them again if there was anything I was able to do to recover my account, and they said that, sadly, there is nothing they could do, as my account had violated the terms of service in the past. […]
I’m kind of at a loss at what to do. I can share my whole exchange with Niantic, but it’s kind of crushing, as at every step, they really only told me what was happening and didn’t offer me any steps of moving forward.
It’s not the first time Pokemon Go customer support has faced criticism for its handling of player account issues. Speaking personally, I, too, had the misfortune of having to deal with Niantic’s customer support a few months ago. This happened when I tried logging in to my Trainers Club-linked account, which I haven’t used in years since the game launched in 2016.
Lo and behold, all I got was the Account Termination Notice screen, and the support kept saying that I had violated the game’s terms and services. The support email mentioned the “three strikes” rule, but I’ve searched all my emails far and wide and can’t see any mail sent by Niantic. What were the terms of service that I broke? It kept its mouth shut.
To this day, Pokemon GO continues to thrive with its ever-growing player base and revenue. Niantic even boasted that the 2023 Fest brought $323 million in earnings for local economies. But on the flip side, the company seems to see its user base as numbers to generate those metrics alone.
Niantic must recognize the responsibility it bears toward ensuring fair and just treatment of its dedicated players. Losing a Pokemon GO account built over years of dedication is not just a loss of in-game progress. It’s not wrong to say that it is also a loss of memories, achievements, and a piece of the player’s identity. Not to mention the amount of money that players have spent to support the continuation of the game. It’s really a huge shame that even a launch veteran like Muddy0258 cannot even get closure on what actually happened to their account.
