Highlights

  • Some Pokemon GO fans have been complaining about the game's avatar update throughout the second half of April.
  • The backlash was reignited by a recent Niantic tweet that saw the company suggest the controversial update introduced eye color customization options to the game, even though those already existed.
  • The developer has also raised some eyebrows by using old avatar models in its new in-game cosmetics ads.

Niantic's promotional tweet showcasing one aspect of the Pokemon GO avatar update has upset some of the game's fans. This turn of events further underlines the controversial nature of the recent changes to the Pokemon GO character customization system.

The fan backlash against the avatar revamp has been ongoing since Niantic started testing it in select countries come late March 2024. Soon afterward, some vocal players started complaining that their Pokemon GO avatars now look like "potatoes" and have weirdly stiff poses, among other perceived shortcomings.

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Pokemon GO Highlights Avatar Customization Feature That Already Existed

The backlash against the Pokemon GO avatar update flared up in mid-April, when the changes were rolled out globally. As it usually does for most of the game's major patches, Niantic has been promoting the new update on social media, although its efforts haven't been doing much to change the fandom's perception. On the contrary, one recent tweet from the company has elicited a particularly negative reaction from some of the players. Published on April 27, the post aimed to showcase the ability to change the eye color of one's avatar.

"With the all-new avatar update, Trainers can now customize their eye color," the promo reads. This message appears to have upset some fans, not least because it focused on a feature that already existed prior to the controversial changes going live; although the old Pokemon GO avatar system was fairly limited, it did allow players to change the color of their characters' skin, eyes, and hair. The option was presented differently, but it did exist, which prompted some fans to label Niantic's April 27 tweet as misleading.

Some fans also took issue with the timing of the tweet. One of them is Reddit user cjjones07, who labeled the promo as being in "very poor taste," given the ongoing backlash against the avatar system revamp. That notwithstanding, it is plausible that Niantic's marketing campaign for the update, including its contents and schedule, was finalized before the community started voicing its displeasure with the patch.

Niantic's efforts to promote the game's customization options did raise some additional eyebrows earlier this month, when players noticed one in-game ad for some new accessories was using the old avatar models. A few fans have sarcastically remarked that even the developer's marketing department appears to prefer the old character models in response to that mishap. Niantic has so far not commented on the ongoing backlash against its new avatar system, which has even led to Pokemon GO getting review-bombed.