Pokevison creator Yangcheng Liu has published an impassioned open letter, directed at Niantic boss John Hanke, urging him to listen to fan feedback concerning the game.
Pokémon GO has suffered a huge public backlash this week after many fans were left disappointed as the go to app for tracking Pokémon was shut down. Niantic's own in-game system has been unusable for some time now, leaving fans reliant on the app Pokevison to track and find Pokémon in the game world.
Liu's letter claims that Hanke personally requested that Pokevison was shut down, leaving the game less playable for fans, with Niantic offering no solution of their own at the time being. Liu goes on to say that "Half of the player base of Pokémon Go stopped by - and they didn't do so to 'cheat'. The game was simply too unbearable to play in its current state for many. The main attraction wasn't that they got to have an advantage with Pokévision, the main attraction was that it allowed them to play Pokémon Go more. This is what everyone wants - to play Pokémon Go more. I literally cannot express this more - we just want to play the game."
Pokevison's shutdown has angered a lot of Pokémon Go's fanbase with many taking to the games app store listing to leave negative reviews. Niantic boss Hanke had already stated his distaste for the app saying "Yeah, I don't really like that. Not a fan."
Hanke also had this to say concerning the Pokevison app and ones like it at last week's San Diego Comic-Con;
"We have priorities right now but they might find in the future that those things may not work. People are only hurting themselves because it takes some fun out of the game."
Liu's passionate letter echoes what a lot of the fans of the game are feeling and pleads with Niantic to find a solution so trainers can continue to have some assistance in tracking the monsters.
"When we closed Pokévision out of respect for your wishes, and at your requests - one of which came directly from you, John - we trusted you guys fully in allowing the community to grow," Liu wrote.
He ends the letter describing how he loves the game, but how many of Niantic decisions may have ruined it saying;
"You've simply captured all of our hearts with Pokémon Go, Niantic. But then, you broke it all too quickly."
Niantic has yet to fix its own in-game tracking system or comment on whether it will reinstate Pokevison, leaving fans currently in the dark when it comes to tracking Pokémons effectively with the popular game. Have you been using Pokévision alongside Pokémon Go?