UPDATE: 2025-08-23 15:08 EST BY CHRIS COMPENDIO
Niantic Clarifies That No Intrusive Ads Will Come To Pokémon GO
Nianticcommunications director Mark Van Lommel provided ScreenRant with a statement clarifying the meaning of the lines of code speculated on by thePokémon GOcommunity. The company reaffirmed its promise of not incorporating “intrusive ads” into the game and that Niantic “added a written list of common ad networks” and “not the ad frameworks themselves,” which Van Lommel described as a “standard industry practice.”
We will not be bringing intrusive ads to Pokémon GO, not now, not ever. We recently upgraded a third-party library in Pokémon GO which introduced code that added a written list of common ad networks - but not the ad frameworks themselves. This is standard industry practice, but in no way reflects any plans to change how the Pokémon GO team approaches advertising.
The original story, as reported, is below.
A recentPokémon GOdatamine hints at an upcoming increase in ads following developer Niantic’s acquisition by mobile gaming giant, Scopely. The game’s lead, Ed Wu, has previously assured fans that the core team behind the title will be staying together in the aftermath of the acquisition, butlayoffs at the Niantic Spatial arm of the companymay indicate thatPokémon GOis about to experience a shakeup—and many fans are concerned about the direction the title will head next.
Pokémon GOdirector Michael Steranka has assured fans that there would"definitely not" be intrusive ads in the gamein the future, but details revealed byThe Pokemod Groupshow that fans may have cause for concern, after all. The information acquired revealsadded support for over a dozen new sources of advertising, making fans wary of upcoming changes to the beloved AR Pokémon capturing mobile app. The news comes in the aftermath of Niantic’s sale to Scopley for $3.5 billion, an act thatcaused concern among many players.
The Addition May Indicate A Plan To Increase Ads
Although the news of additional ad support isn’t official, information acquired through datamining tends to be more trustworthy. The Pokemod Group is experienced in delving into the inner workings ofPokémon GO,as the group is behind several unofficial modifications that make some quality of life improvements (like auto-selling items after a certain number is amassed, and many other useful tweaks). According to the information,the app is gearing up to allow ads from several new sources,including GoogleAdMob, Admost, ChartBoost, Yandex, and others.
Should You Be Transferring All Your Pokémon From Pokémon GO To Pokémon HOME?
People are hurriedly transferring all of their beloved Pokemon from Pokemon GO to Pokemon Home. But does that mean that you should too?
There’s a chance that only the variety and not the frequency or quantity of ads will increase, butit’s more likely that the ad support boost will lead to more overall ads.Fan reaction to this leak has been overwhelmingly pessimistic, with many long-time fans worried thatPokémon GOwill follow the example of Scopely’s other IPs likeMonopoly Go!and become more reliant on ads for its source of revenue, instead of optional purchases through the in-game shop.
Scopely’s Acquisition Of Niantic May Cause More Changes Than Expected
In the few days after Scopely bought Niantic, both companies tried toreassure worried fans that the change wouldn’t affect the games they know and love.Pokémon GOand Niantic’s other titles would now be owned and operated by Scopely, but the games would continue to provide the sameservices and focus on the community, as always.
Fans weren’t placated, though, with many scrambling to transfer their hard-earned captures to the Nintendo-ownedPokémon Home.The prevailing concern now is thatPokémon GO, Monster Hunter Now, Pikmin Bloom,and Niantic’s other IPs willuse an increase in ads to push fans into a subscription modelto remove the ads. While nothing official has been shared by either Scopely or Niantic, it appears that changes are coming toPokémon GOwhether fans are ready or not.
