Summary
- Playing Pokemon Sleep may pose a fire risk due to guidelines from the FDNY.
- The game encourages players to keep their phones plugged in overnight and on their beds.
- While fire risks are unlikely, players should still be cautious and monitor their device's temperature during gameplay.
There’s a risk that playing Pokemon Sleep could cause a fire, according to the guidelines of the Fire Department of New York City (FDNY). Pokemon Sleep is all about healthiness and making Snorlax stronger, but it seems that there’s a real risk for a few unfortunate gamers if they are not careful.
Pokemon Sleep is a new game in which players can track their sleep and earn points by sleeping well. Having a good night of sleep is essential to accumulate high Sleep Scores in Pokemon Sleep and catch more Pokemon sleep styles, filling the game’s Pokedex. However, there’s a slight controversy about how safe it is to play the game as intended that has been around for the last few days.
A Pokemon fan called TamashiiHiroka recently talked about the risks of playing Pokemon Sleep. They used a screenshot with official guidelines from FDNY, which state that it’s not safe to charge batteries overnight, and it’s even worse to leave them under the pillows during that time. The catch is that the official guidelines of Pokemon Sleep encourage the players to do exactly that for the game to record their sleep. This goes directly against the safety guidelines of several fire departments all over the world, which TamashiiHiroka describes as “ironic,” considering that the game is all about health.
However, Pokemon Sleep players should not be too overly concerned about fire risks. It’s very unlikely that Pokemon Sleep will cause a fire. Lithium-ion batteries have a small risk of fires and explosions when they overheat, but these are not common cases. Even TamashiiHiroka recognizes that, and acknowledges that most fires are from charging e-bikes and similar devices, not phones. Also, it’s possible to place the phone near the player, but not under the pillow, which would also diminish risks. In any case, it’s very important to check the player’s device specs and whether the smartphones are getting too hot while playing Pokemon Sleep to avoid any potential issues.
Unfortunately, fire hazards are not the only concern that fans have about the new game, as Pokemon Sleep players are concerned about having their sleep tracked. A few months ago, several posts appeared all over social media stating that there was a real risk of sharing sensitive health information with the game’s developers. It’s a similar situation when compared to Pokemon GO, which has full access to gamers’ location data in order to work as intended, but it’s the price to play the game.
Pokemon Sleep is available for iOS and Android.