Pokemon Go has become one of the most popular games out there right now. But apparently that popularity comes at a cost, with the Pokemon Go servers going up and down ever since launch. Currently the servers are down once again and they seem to have stayed down for some time, causing players to be unable to login or perform any action in side the game. They’ll occasionally pop back up for a moment, but at this point Pokemon Go players are more wary of the server status than anything that the game actually throws at them.
The bigger problem in all of this seems to be the total lack of communication from Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, or Niantic, the developer behind the game. Aside from cursory mentions of Pokemon Go server trouble the night of the launch, all three companies have remained largely mute on the topic. Having a game launch in a poor state is one thing, but not telling your fans when it might be fixed is another. (Update: they have finally issued a statement, but it is short on details)
What’s an even greater shame is that when the game works it is pretty great. Finding and catching Pokemon is a dream come true, and the ways gyms work is pretty interesting. Players are already forming factions around their teams, and we’ve seen a lot of interesting Pokemon displayed at popular gyms.
Unfortunately players just can’t get attached to anything. One a personal note, I’ve actually had to abandon an account because I used my Pokemon Trainer Club account to sign up for it. This service has been hit even harder, and has essentially been useless since Pokemon Go launched. Switching to Google caused me to start a brand new game. Google is at least a little bit more stable, but the servers still go down very often, and without word from the companies behind the game I’m not sure when I can really get into my Pokemon Go adventure again.
