Niantic quietly removes fan favorite Pokemon Go feature leaving players confused
NianticNiantic has seemingly removed a fan-favorite feature from Pokemon Go that allowed players to open gifts when their inventory is full to earn Stardust instead of items.
In late July, Pokemon Go released a new feature allowing players to open gifts they’ve received from their friends even if their inventory is full. Instead of the potential items, players would earn a little bit of Stardust per gift.
Niantic was praised for this addition to the game as it kept players from having to throw away items every time they needed to open gifts. And since special research tasks often require players to open gifts, this feature sped up the tasks.
However, it was recently reported that the feature had been removed from the game. Without warning – and before it even made it onto all accounts – the Stardust for gifts feature disappeared.
Stardust gift feature removed from Pokemon Go
On August 11, notable data miner group PokeMiners posted an update stating the aforementioned feature had been removed. They tweeted, “Converting gifts to stardust when your bag is full appears to have just been disabled for all accounts.”
At the time of reporting, Niantic has yet to address the feature’s removal. And seeing how universally praised the addition was, players are confused as to why it was removed.
One comment stated, “I’m gonna guess there was some sort of bug with it. Niantic makes some bad decisions, but they aren’t stupid enough to remove an enjoyed feature for NO reason.” Multiple users theorized that its removal had to be a bug as they couldn’t imagine a reason why Niantic would remove it.
However, those who felt burned by Niantic’s previous unpopular changes to Pokemon Go took the opportunity to jab at the developer. They stated, “It was too useful and a great improvement so you could advance Friendship without having to sacrifice items so obviously it had to go.” while another stated, “I guess we were getting too much stardust…”
We will have to wait and see if Niantic either reinstates the feature or if they address its removal. Hopefully, players get answers soon rather than being left in confusion.
