Niantic – let me pay for my old Pokemon Go avatar

The Pokemon Go fanbase is up in arms over the changes made to character avatars in the Rediscover Pokemon Go campaign, opening a way for the developers to finally make me spend money on the game.

The Pokemon Go community often rallies against Niantic’s business decisions, which are usually related to how the game is monetized, such as the price of event tickets or the changes to Remote Raid Passes.

However, rarely have Pokemon Go players been so united as they have against the changes to avatars and character customization, both of which are part of the “Rediscover Pokemon Go” campaign, featuring numerous graphical updates to the game.

The response was swift when the update went live in a few regions – most fans hate the new visuals. From the childlike character designs to the nerfing of female body proportions, no one is happy with how their avatars have changed.

There are also reports that avatar items that people paid for are no longer available, though this could be a temporary glitch while the changes are being rolled out. We’ll hopefully know soon whether these items will return or if Niantic will refund players, or if the items are gone for good, opening up a whole new kettle of fish.

Now that the Rediscover Pokemon Go updates are rolling out worldwide, the fanbase is absolutely livid with what has happened to the avatars. Many joke that Niantic plans to sell an option to bring back the old character models.

And you know what, I’d pay for that. I’ve fought tooth and nail against paying for Pokemon Go content, especially living near a Gym, which gives me ample opportunity to earn PokeCoins.

But I’d gladly throw my bank card at my phone, Gambit from the X-Men-style, if it meant reversing the changes to my avatar. I love the bad ’90s music video CGI aesthetic, except when I had to use it for my Pokemon Trainer.