The never-ending appeal of the Pokemon franchise means that Pokemon Go is still quite active in its eight years of operation, with fresh events and mons to collect on a regular basis! Niantic has been working quite hard to release new updates for the title, which included the Rediscover series of updates.
While there’s no doubt that the Rediscover Go campaign certainly revamped the game’s visuals, map, and other aspects and brought a much-needed fresh experience, it ruined the appearance of in-game avatars. While the developer has tried its best to sweep the issue under the rug, it highlights a major problem in the gaming industry.
Pokemon Go Avatar Update Proves The Developers Don’t Care
Back on April 18, Niantic released one of the most controversial updates in the game that changed players’ avatars. While the developer marketed it as a way to “modernize,” the community’s reaction was absolutely brutal, as most players considered it to be an outright downgrade.
However, many in the community believed that the witch hunt against the studio wasn’t right as it’s just avatars, no one really cares about them, and the change doesn’t affect the gameplay in the slightest.
However, as pointed out by Reddit user Temporary_Laywer_938, the biggest gripe was the fact that the studio gave players something that they knew was half-baked.
Many people are overlooking the most important point.
byu/Temporary_Lawyer_938 inpokemongo
Ever since avatar changes were first revealed, Niantic knew that the entire update was a buggy mess and didn’t match the overall tone of the game’s art style.
However, instead of owning up to their mistakes and giving us a polished product, Niantic decided to launch the Pokemon Go update anyway. What’s worse is that they didn’t even give players an option to opt out of the update if they simply didn’t like their avatars.
The gaming community has the right to reject an update that outright downgrades the game. Instead of defending Niantic or any company, players need to join their hands, and say no to broken updates, and make the developers accountable for their actions.
Studio That Helped With Pokemon Go Avatar Update Was Hit Layoffs
It seems like players’ complaints have paid off as the Seattle-based support studio Very Very SpaceShip was hit with layoffs after developing the controversial avatar changes for the Rediscover Go update.
As reported by Game Developer, roles affected by the round of firing included recruiters, producers, and character artists. Some of the former employees, including HR manager Sara Carmen and game producer Matt Swanson, shared their news of departure on their respective LinkedIn profiles.
Even senior 3D character artist Kelsey Martin was laid off, who spent four years at the company and had a major role in the avatar system.
The exact number of employees affected by the layoffs isn’t known at the moment.
Currently, Very Very Spaceship aids the developer of the Pokemon game by working on various features. Let’s hope this affects the development of upcoming features for the title.
Do you think Niantic should revert the avatar changes’ in Pokemon Go? If so, let us know in the comments.
