Pokemon Go Director Explains Unintended Consequences of Wild Spawn Radius Adjustment

Michael Steranka, the director of the Pokemon Go video game, has spoken on the Wild Spawn Radius topic, which is likely still fresh in users’ minds. Niantic, the company that created Pokemon Go, significantly adjusted the spawn radius of the creatures found in the game earlier in the week.

Niantic quickly declared their decision to restore this radius and explained that this was the unintentional impact of a bug fix. This was done even though a significant portion of the comments was approved. Players now better understand why the development team decided to change their minds about this decision, according to Go director Michael Steranka.

Michael Steranka explains the Pokemon Go radius issue

Michael Steranka, the director of Pokemon Go, was a guest on The Battle Catz Podcast, where he was questioned about the Wild Spawn radius topic that surfaced earlier this week. Steranka acknowledged the fact that many players of Pokemon Go had voiced support for the larger spawn radius. Still, he emphasized that this was an unanticipated outcome triggered by a bug repair.

The Go director noted that the objective of the modification was to remedy a despawn issue that stopped players from returning to a Pokemon to try and catch it after leaving a particular area. Players could not do so since the problem prevented them from returning to where the Pokemon had spawned. As a result, this resulted in an expanded radius increase and “unintended bugs.” Steranka mentioned that there was feedback that the spawn radius leap negatively influenced the Go+ experience because it was “faltering” and not catching items in the outer ranges. This was about the “bugs” that are now being discussed.

For those who need to be made aware, Pokemon Go+ is a peripheral that can be synced up with an Android or iOS mobile smartphone to enhance the player’s ability to capture Pokemon and interact with Pokestops. This information surfaced just a few days after Niantic came under fire for its declaration that it would roll back the adjustments to the spawn radius, even though the company had gotten lots of favorable feedback. Steranka mentioned that the team wants any modifications that are made in the future to be deliberate and operate without any hiccups. The director of the video game said that the team is thinking over the input given to them.