Pokemon Go sparks backlash after removing animations: “Had enough of Niantic”

Some Pokemon Go players are disappointed after they realized that the short-lived “happy” animations that played when you clicked on a wild Pokemon have disappeared. Niantic appears to have removed them in the latest update.

When petting your Buddy in the mobile game, some Pokemon (mainly all Kanto ‘mon, regional forms, and Mega Evolutions) do a celebratory dance to show they’re happy to receive affection. An update in mid-August made it so the animation would happen when you clicked on one in the wild.

It was short-lived, though, as on August 16, players discovered that the feature was removed just as quickly as it was added in the first place – and some aren’t too pleased about it, claiming they’ve “had enough” of the developer.

Niantic removes Pokemon Go animations

Reddit user u/ThunderDragon356 posted about the change on the game’s subreddit, where Trainers who didn’t know about the removal commented their thoughts. Some didn’t care, but a large portion was disappointed and even “sad” to see the animation gone.

“This reminds me of the time when they briefly added higher quality cries to like the first 151 Pokémon and then suddenly a few weeks later removed them forever,” one fan wrote. “Seems like a waste of dev time to implement things like this only to instantly remove them.”

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“Noooo. These animations were so cute. Especially Eevee’s,” another said, referencing the August 14 and 15 Community Days where the Gen I ‘mon would do a cute happy dance every time you encountered one in the wild.

One Trainer criticized the devs for their lack of communication regarding the removal of features overall. “Why? It would be nice to get some communication from Niantic. Was it harming something in the game? Why is that people report bugs constantly and those are never fixed, but something happy and nice is immediately taken down,” they commented.

“They should address some other issues this quick. Like why do I keep getting the alert about me being “safe” on a bright, sunny regular day?”

Many claimed they “never even got to see them” and one even wrote, “Ugh, had enough of Niantic.”

This latest criticism of Pokemon Go comes after Exploration Bonuses were removed earlier in August, sparking a wave of mass boycotts from frustrated Trainers unhappy with the change.

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In response, Niantic set up a “task force” to figure out how to address player concerns and promises to deliver their findings in early September – perhaps fans will get clearer communication in the future regarding the removal of features like this one.