Niantic Sends Trainers Into Uproar With ‘Pokémon GO’ Update That Makes Avatars Look Androgynous
Players of Pokémon GO are objecting en force, after an update to avatar customization has left them feeling ugly.
Prior to the update, the avatar had a male or female base. Players could then choose from a variety of skin tones, hair colors, hair styles, and eye colors. Some clothes and poses were gender-locked or had variations on each other. Around late March, some players got a preview of the new customization features.
Players could freely choose male and female faces for their avatar as well as wear any clothing (women’s clothing usually dubbed “fitted”). It also had more hair styles, hair colors, eye colors, skin tones, and new sliders to adjust height, weight, and more. Adjustments to the “chest” slider increased or decreased the size of breasts, as opposed to pectoral muscles.
The preview fell flat with players. “What’s happened to the female avatars’ figure!? Why now so masculine!?” @colddarkparks balked. “If this is permanent, looks like my days of spending on avatar items are over,” the user declared, sharing comparison pictures of the changes the new update made to the avatar.
By comparison, the original female avatar appeared to have a slimmer waist and larger hips. Speaking to other user, @colddarkparks claimed adjusting the slider didn’t help.
@BlackCat_Dandy summarized how many users felt about the preview. “Welp, #PokemonGo players are having a bad day, Niantic silent released an update that changed everyone’s avatars for the worse, removed paid poses and items, all because… they wanted to add ‘better diverse character customization.'”
It should be noted, while some avatars presented glitches when wearing certain items, paid items were not removed from accounts en masse. Further, the most egregious examples were edited by users, as it seems the avatar’s default state was to set all sliders to 50%.
Nonetheless, female avatars were seen with less pronounced hips (some appeared to be in the default male pose rather than the female one), male avatars featured a softer face, and there was a general dissatisfaction with how clothes looked on the new, awkward frame.
This writer also attempted to recreate the original default female avatar after the update went live for all users. Even with the appropriate sliders set to minimum and maximum, the new avatar could not have a waist as thin — or hips as wide — as the original female avatar.
On April 15th, developer Niantic rolled out their “Rediscover GO” campaign, bringing new features to welcome back players, and give current ones an improved experience.
The first part of this was improved avatar customization, and on the 17th, Niantic proudly declared on April 17th “Trainers, your avatar can now look even more like YOU! We’re excited to announce that new avatar customization options are now live in Pokémon GO!”
Instead of promoting the game, Niantic’s tweet kicked the hornet’s nest — prompting players to give their feedback unfiltered. Players showcased avatars with lifless expressions, awkward stances, ashy skin, and removing buttocks to the point of it looking unnatural.
On top of that there were glitches. Avatars set to the maximum fatness would clip through their own clothes (sometimes not even needing the maximum), headphones denting the avatar’s skull, avatars turning bow-legged, or chunks of the model and textures being absent.
Even when the avatars work as intended, users mocked or amused by maximum fat characters (others genuinely happy of the additional body types). Some shared the image of three female avatars — comparing them to a clip from the Powerpuff Girls, when three men try to look like the titular little girls.
Including a much-shared image of a female avatar wearing Mewtwo-inspired clothing — with an unflattering before and after comparison that captures nigh-all of the complaints — @LukeVonKarma implored, “If you want context on how terrible this change was, look at this update pokemon go did to avatars in the game.”
“I hate to be like ‘lol it looks like ai art’ but it’s pretty horrendous,” the user went on, adding, “Pokemon Go please reverse this horrible update.”
“There hasn’t been a Japanese IP that has undergone more Westernisation than Pokémon,” lamented @politicalawake. “Literally one of the most appealing things in Pokémon besides the Pokémon themselves is the Anime stylised Trainers.
The X user then pointed out, “Realism=The death of escapism.”
Pokémon YouTuber Lewtwo also shared a selection of upset players — a mere fraction of what they’d seen. “literally every pokemon go post over the last 24 hours has felt like a f—–g funeral this s–t is unreal man.”
Back in late March, Lewtwo had highlighted how players had negatively responded to Pokémon GO‘s Twitter account for “literal years” alongside alleged bots — long before this recent controvercy.
Mark Kern — former Blizzard Entertainment team lead and producer turned consumer advocate — highlighted how players wanted “fantasy ideals,” and that ugly avatars were not inclusive like Niantic may have hoped. Kern went on to place the blame on DEI and ESG initiatives.
“The Pokémon Go avatar changes are pissing off ALL REAL WOMEN who got their trainers DESTROYED by unnecessary DEI changes. This wasn’t to appeal to women, it already appealed to women. DEI and ESG initiatives ruin games and will cost [Pokémon GO] MILLIONS. No butts, no wait, no hips, and here’s a CHAD JAW!”
Kern went on to highlight the Niantic being based in San Francisco (a typically left-leaning city in support of DEI), the developer having worked with consultancy firm GaymerX, and The Pokémon Company seeking a DEI director.
A “high ranking” Niantic employee issued a staff to fan website Pokémon Go Hub. “We’re sending all of your feedback to the Product Team, and the folks who worked on the Avatar system, we’re taking this seriously and really appreciate you sharing your candid personal opinions / follower opinions.”
However, that may not be entirely the case. In an interview on r/TheSilphRoad ( self-declared “Reddit’s #1 spot for Pokémon GO discoveries and research”), an alleged member of a feedback server — who is only addressed as J.D. (John/Jane Doe) — claims Niantic knew about the issues before launch. What’s more, they may be unlikely to do anything about it.
J.D. explained feedback server was started two years ago by Niantic’s UX and UI development team, with J.D. joining at its inception. The server was made of around 1000 players of all different kinds (casual, serious, etc.) to test “everything Niantic.”
While they provided feedback on features and mechanics, they had no idea how they would be implemented into Niantic games, including “many tests features centring around VR and 3D scanning for an app ‘Scaniverse’.” Strict NDAs also prevented discussion of these “studies,” even within the group.
Despite this, J.D. alleges, “we openly discuss/brainstorm needed features and improvements which have in the past been properly documented before submitting.”
These became “many” of the quality of life features in Pokémon GO, including the Ready button for Raid battles, a less cluttered Research menu, longer lasting item buffs, and more in-person Raid bonuses. Even so, J.D. explains, “since we get no follow on feedback of any kind from them it is hard to say if any were results from the group or not.”
Discussions about the Avatar update began over a year ago with questionnaires, followed by beta testing in December 2023 and January 2024.
J.D. claims, “There is very very little improvement/change since the beta version to what we all have now, it was a surprise to see them announcing the full rollout date when we were still on what was thought to be an unpolished beta version which turns out is what we all got at the end.”
Even after the backlash, J.D. further asserts, “No formal request for further studies or feedbacks has been made to suggest they’re looking to do any major updates to these avatar besides fixing the many genuine glitches/errors. The group has been vocal of their disappointment with this rollout with one participant quote ‘ashamed to be part of the study when this is the result’.”
“The group have since brainstormed, discussed and analysed in detail the specific issues of these avatars and forward these feedbacks but they are unsolicited feedbacks meaning they are not been asked for in a formal setting and feedbacks/suggestions are given without compensated [sic],” J.D. reveals.
“Current live studies are all based on live AR application which looks to be used across all titles PGo, Pikmin and [Monster Hunter Now] as it has gathered players from all of them to participate.” Most recently, Sponsored Gifts were updated to use AR, asking players to use their camera to select where a tiny airship “drops” a package of items.
When asked if it felt like communication was one way, and that their feedback didn’t feel considered, J.D. simply replied, “Yes, very much so.”
“At the start there was back and forth discussions and feedbacks with the staff members on the server but they’re frustrated too when ‘up coming’ test study features go live without tests being conducted or certain ones getting constantly delayed before again going live without the server having the chance to conduct test/feedback,” J.D. conveyed.
“So they stopped announcing studies of features ahead of time and gradually communication from them in the server became zero. You do feel sorry for them working in these conditions, higher management will do what they want and drive data to fit their own vision,” J.D. sympathized.
Despite all the outrage, Pokémon GO‘s community manager did address the update. “RE: avatars!” Mx. Kestrel Riot opened. “I’ve been reading and building notes, but I’d love to hear what folks think.”
“Some caveats: Cruelty gets ignored! Critical, specific feedback is on what isn’t working is great! Saying what you like is just as important as what you don’t like! I want both!” Mx. Kestrel insisted.
“Side note here too: diversity means everyone — so your feedback is valuable, regardless of who you are,” Mx. Kestrel welcomed.
It seemed the vast majority was respectful, but insistent on what was and wasn’t working — many begging for the old avatars to return.
“Thanks for all the feedback! I appreciate the critical thoughts (both the good and the bad), and I’ve circulated it back to the team. Shutting replies off on that post for now!” Mx. Kestrel signed off.
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