Summary
- A recent Pokemon GO update caused avatars to change skin and hair colors.
- Community backlash against Niantic for recent avatar updates has been severe, with concerns over rushed and misleading changes.
- Pokemon GO was review bombed after the avatar update controversy, but the game maintains solid ratings on app stores.
A recent Pokemon GO update introduced a glitch in which the skin and hair colors of some players’ avatars completely changed. Pokemon GO is among the most popular mobile games in the world, but fans have not been satisfied with essentially all recent changes to their avatars.
Back on April 17, Niantic released a Pokemon GO update that changed players’ avatars. While the update was marketed as a way to “modernize” the game, the community’s reception was hugely negative, as most people considered the update to be a downgrade in visuals.
Now, a new Pokemon GO update has introduced even more problems with the appearance of its players’ avatars. Multiple Pokemon GO players have reportedly opened their apps and discovered that their characters have completely changed their skin and hair colors, which even led some of them to believe that their accounts may have been hacked. In a post shared by a Pokemon GO player, it’s possible to see how drastic these changes were. In the first picture, their avatar has white hair and a light skin tone, while after the glitch happened, they had brown hair and dark skin, looking like a completely different character. Niantic will hopefully issue a hotfix soon, but no official statement regarding this problem has been released yet.
New Pokemon Go Update Changed The Skin and Hair Color of Some Players
This is just the latest event in the long controversy that started back in April with the avatar changes. Soon after the update was implemented, rumors that the Pokemon GO avatar’s update was rushed surfaced, leading many players to speculate about the reasons why the updated characters looked so bad when compared to models that were devised years ago.
Soon after the change, Niantic was also criticized for misleading marketing in Pokemon GO, as the studio kept using the old avatar models for advertising paid clothing items. This was deemed as a “shady move” by some players, who saw this as an admission that even Niantic knew the new avatars looked worse than the previous ones.
All this controversy led to Pokemon GO being review bombed on online mobile stores, with many fans giving it 1-star reviews. At the moment, however, Pokemon GO stands at 3.9/5 on the App Store, and 4.2/5 on Google Play, meaning it has somehow withstood the review bombing well enough.
Pokémon GO
- Released
- July 6, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
Pokémon GO is an immersive open-world multiplayer RPG that enables you to live your own RPG adventure in augmented reality. Find and evolve all Pokémon and battle with other players in AR online in this multiplayer adventure RPG.
COMPLETE YOUR POKÉDEX AND INCREASE YOUR TRAINER LEVEL!
Catch your favourite Pokémon as you explore the open world in augmented reality, trade them with other Trainers, or get the chance to catch a Pokémon after winning a Raid. You can also collect Pokémon by hatching eggs through walking! Evolve your Pokémon in your Pokédex, gain levels to catch more powerful Pokémon and earn adventure rewards during a Raid in multiplayer or online PvP battle.
EXPERIENCE THE ADVENTURE IN MULTIPLAYER AND PvP!
Start your own adventure and challenge other Trainers online in PvP during epic Gym battles or in the GO Battle League. You can also enjoy multiplayer by facing off with other players in PvP battles to win rewards, or team up with other Trainers for a chance to catch Pokémon after a Raid Battle.
CREATE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE!
Customise your avatar, join one of the three teams and pick your Buddy Pokémon from your Pokédex to journey by your side in this AR adventure RPG.
SWITCH BETWEEN THE REAL WORLD AND THE VIRTUAL WORLD WITH THE AR+ MODE!
Bring the RPG to the real world and search for Pokémon in locations around you. With the AR+ mode, Pokémon appear right in front of you — Catch it with your PokéBall and add it to your Pokédex.
Catch your favourite Pokémon in AR as you explore the world and battle online with other Trainers in PvP and Raid battles.
