Niantic confirms Pokemon Go’s new avatars are here to stay

Pokemon Go’s avatar changes prompted a vitriolic response from the fanbase, but don’t expect the old system to be returned anytime soon.

The live service nature of Pokemon Go means that it’s constantly in flux, with new content updates and revisions to existing features. Naturally, this means that players often express disdain for one change or another, regardless of how minor or insignificant it is.

No aspect of Pokemon Go has received more backlash in 2024 than the avatar update, which overhauled the visuals for player character models. The changes to body shape and clothing drew criticism across the fanbase, especially as it altered items people had paid for.

Fans had one hope remaining: that Niantic would implement an option to use the old avatars. Unfortunately, for now, it seems this won’t come to pass, as confirmed by Pokemon Go director Michael Steranka in an interview with Dot Esports. According to Sterenka, the team is all-in on the new avatars.

“One of the feedbacks we saw was around wanting the original avatars for some players,” Steranka said, “And some of the things we did to adjust the various options, or to give players opportunities to manually get a little bit closer to what those original avatars look like.”

“It’s not a one-to-one, for sure, but I do think if that’s what you’re really interested in there, there are options available to you to get close to that equally.”

This news will be a blow to fans who want a return to the old days of Pokemon Go. There was hope that the changes would be rolled back, or that there would be an option to switch between them. After all, the Team Rocket Go members still use the old designs, so why not maintain parity across all characters?

Sternaka had previously mentioned that the Pokemon Go team had been listening to fan feedback over the avatar situation. That feedback hasn’t done much to sway the game’s direction, as the response was one of the few times the audience was united in their dislike over something.

As it stands, Pokemon Go lovers will have to learn to live with their new avatars, or at least tolerate them whenever they’re on the screen.