It seems that Niantic can't stop getting into hot water with their popular Pokemon Go game. Recently, the game came under fire for price increases and other changes fans weren't happy about, and things have reached a head now after Pokemon Go director Michael Steranka stated that nothing is going to change.
In an interview, Steranka was quizzed by Dot Esports about the HearUsNiantic movement - a group of Pokemon Go players who took to social media to make their voices heard - and he had this to say:
"Yeah, we’ve definitely taken note. It’s hard to ignore, right? I’m personally being tagged a lot in a lot of these tweets. So we read everything, and we see everything. It’s one of those things where we never want to go out and respond to two calls like that, unless we have something to actually show for it. And for us, for the rest of this year, we really feel like actions will speak louder than words."
Steranka remains steadfast on the company's decision to increase prices. "So again, super, super painful decision that is not something we took lightly. But it’s something that we felt is necessary for the longevity of the game and to also ensure that we’re not really compromising on our mission."
The HearUsNiantic movement has caused the game to have its worst month in years, revenue-wise, as players abandon the game due to what they see as anti-consumer moves.
So this statement by Steranka is likely to annoy fans even more because it certainly comes across as sorry not sorry.
Niantic are hearing the voices, but they are unwilling to budge.
We can only speculate that this is going to have an adverse affect on the game's popular, that's opposite to the one that the company wants.
We'll be monitoring the situation in the coming months.