Pokemon Go Players Face Punishment For Using Niantic Employee’s “Black Market”
Pokemon Go Is Reportedly Banning Players Who Purchased “Black Market” Research Tasks
Since 2020, Sam has written over 2,500 articles and specializes in telling the stories of the people behind the games. He’s interviewed the biggest game directors, some of the industry’s top talents, told the stories of how indie games came to be, and spoken to players about what really makes them tick. He’s also interviewed some of the world’s biggest musical artists to find out how the medium has inspired their work, and TV and Film actors about their roles in video game adaptations. He even hosted a PAX panel in 2021 and made a documentary in 2024 surrounding the creation of a Disney game.
Alongside this, Sam focuses on breaking news. He got the scoop on Perfect Dark’s cancellation, got context around some AI drama, and revealed how Lady Dimitrescu’s actress would love to step back into the character’s giant shoes. These articles have been picked up by the biggest gaming sites, including IGN, GameSpot, and PC Gamer. He also loves to dive into the numbers behind the games.
Sam’s journey in games journalism has taken him all over the world. He’s covered Gamescom in Germany, Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, and Tokyo Game Show in Japan, each on more than one occasion.
He’s been learning Japanese since 2024 with the intention of identifying and translating Japanese-language news and bringing it to English-language audiences first, something he’s done countless times.
Sam’s first review was 2020’s Battletoads reboot, and he’s since reviewed games in The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokemon franchises.
For the past nine months, something has been bubbling under the surface of Pokemon Go. Widespread reports surfaced that a group of people, rumored to be Niantic employees, was injecting old Research Tasks into the game, allowing players to obtain rare, Research-exclusive Pokemon over and over again. This gave those players the chance to catch Pokemon with perfect IVs and shinies, all in the ball of their choosing.
The problem went deep, with these groups apparently charging an "extremely high price" for their "black market" services, and even harassing, threatening, and doxxing those who dared to speak out.
While Niantic, nor Pokemon Go's new owners, Scopely, have yet to comment, it looks like some players are starting to feel the effects of their black market purchases, with bans being issued to players who "received Special Research in an unauthorized manner."
Pokemon Go Players Are Getting Banned For Their Black Market Activities
We're no closer to finding out who is behind the black-market Research injections in Pokemon Go, but reports have surfaced over the last few hours that Scopely is beginning to take action against those who used them.
In a new post online, one player shared a screenshot of a reported ban a black market user received.
It reads:
Hello Trainer,
We have confirmed that you have received Special Research in an unauthorized manner, violating Pokemon Go Terms of Service and Player Guidelines.
We take fairness seriously at Scopely Explore, and hence, your account has been temporarily suspended for 30 days. Further violations may result in additional sanctions against your account, including a permanent termination.
While the email is yet to be verified, any suspension will come as welcome news to players and, hopefully, signals the beginning of the end of this shady practice.
However, although this shows progress, a 30-day suspension isn't enough in the eyes of some players. "It should be an instant ban, to be honest," said Drew_Ferran on Reddit, in an opinion that was shared by many more.
It's an unfortunate situation for Scopely, whose acquisition of the popular title was completed only in the last few months. If it was, in fact, a Niantic employee running the black market, it has a lot of tidying up to do from baggage left behind by the game's previous owner.
TheGamer has reached out to Scopely for comment.