Pokemon Go Halloween event accidentally adds much-needed accessibility feature
It’s that time of year once again when Pokemon Go gets spooky, Pokemon don their costumes, and ghosts fill the map. But for this year’s Halloween festivities, Niantic made a change to the map that accidentally added a much-needed accessibility feature.
If you’ve opened up Pokemon Go within the last week, you’ll notice Niantic has made some drastic changes to the in-game map for the Halloween event. The grass has been desaturated, there are piles of leaves on the ground, and orange foliage flies through the air.
These spawns have also changed to reflect the ghastly nature of the spirit of Halloween. Ghost and Dark-type Pokemon have invaded Pokemon Go and new challenges have players filling their storage with all manner of creepy creatures.
But one of the most notable changes is the change in color for Pokestops. The light blue structures have been given a coat of orange paint, and are marked with pumpkins. And while it may not have been Niantic’s intention, these changes provide a much-needed accessibility feature for players who are colorblind.
Pokemon Go Halloween Pokestops help colorblind players
Pokemon Go fans rejoiced when the map took on its new form, mainly because the game hasn’t seen a drastic change in appearance like this before. However, one player sang Niantic’s praises for a different reason.
“I can see the stops!” Reddit user Talismutt shared on r/pokemongo. “I’ve been playing pokemon go since its release, on and off. Ever since day 1 I have had to double-check every stop wondering if I have or haven’t spun it yet.
They then explained that they are colorblind, and it’s been impossible for them to differentiate between the light blue unspun stops and the purple spun stops.
“Enter Orange pokestops. Holy Toledo batman! I can see the difference, clear as day! Hope other colorblind players are enjoying the ease of identification as much as I am!” Talismutt stated.
One player in the comments wondered why Niantic hadn’t changed the color of Pokestops sooner seeing as they aren’t suitable for colorblind players.
However, not every player who is colorblind has the same opinion. “For me seeing the orange stops is kinda hard against the ground as someone with a red/green weakness.” To which another player replied, “Lmao I’m the same way. While all our blue blind bois are getting lifted, us red-green deficient are getting the shaft!”