Colorblind Pokemon Go players call for major change to Pokestops
Confusion over which Pokestops can and can’t be spun has led colorblind Pokemon Go players to push Niantic to introduce a big change that would improve accessibility.
Accessibility in video games has gotten much better over the years with hardware manufacturers like Sony going as far as to develop dedicated controllers for disabled people.
It’s a similar story with software with games like Forza Motorsport having accessibility options that let even blind people enjoy racing. These inclusive features that were once not even considered during development are becoming increasingly commonplace.
However, the industry isn’t perfect as some colorblind Pokemon Go players are now discovering thanks to a flaw with Pokestops.
Pokemon Go’s colorblind community can’t tell Pokestops apart
Discouraged by the current state of Pokestops one colorblind player posted on Reddit: “Niantic should allow us to switch to a different color for Pokéstops that can be spun. I’m slightly colorblind and often can’t tell the difference in color between a ‘Stop that can be spun and one that can’t.”
“During the Harvest Festival event, I was able to tell them apart better as it was golden-brown versus blue. When they left, I was actually shocked. The colors then were SO beneficial!I hope Niantic adds colorblind options to the game to help people like me,” they continued wishing for Niantic to make the change.
Wholly agreeing with the post one like-minded player replied: “100% agree, have the same problem with my colorblindness and this event made it so easy to tell them apart”
“This is a great idea. I hope they see this!” and “This is the most legitimate complaint I’ve seen in this sub for a long time,” were amongst the other responses encouraging Niantic to take action.
While the reception to OP’s idea was positive some players don’t see it happening posting”People need to understand, Niantic doesn’t give a frick about their players,” and “Wouldn’t hold my breath, they don’t care about players in general, but they extra don’t care about players with accessibility issues. Really sorry.”
This isn’t the first time Pokemon Go players have pushed Niantic to improve accessibility with similar requests being made back in June 2023. However, five months on the AR Adventure RPG remains largely unchanged.