Pokemon Go director says Wild Spawn Radius increase caused Go+ issues

With the Pokemon Go Wild Spawn Radius controversy still fresh in players’ minds, game director Michael Steranka is speaking out.

Earlier this week, Pokemon Go developer Niantic rolled out a massive change to the spawn radius of Pokemon that appear in the game.

Despite a large swath of positive feedback, Niantic quickly announced its intent to revert this radius and stated that this was the unintended effect of a bug fix.

Thanks to Go director Michael Steranka, players have a bit more clarity on why the development team decided to reverse this decision.

YouTube: Pokemon Asia ENG

Pokemon Go radius issue explained by Michael Steranka

In a discussion on The Battle Catz Podcast, Pokemon Go director Michael Steranka was asked about the Wild Spawn radius controversy that sprouted earlier this week.

Steranka acknowledged the fact that many Pokemon Go players did express support for the increased spawn radius, but reiterated that this was an unintended consequence caused by a bug fix.

The Go director explained that the purpose of the fix was to solve a despawn issue that prevented players from going back to a Pokemon to try and catch it after leaving a specific area.

This, in turn, created a increased radius increase and “unintended bugs.” As far those “bugs” are concerned, Steranka noted that there was feedback that the spawn radius jump negatively impact the Go+ experience, as it was “faltering” and not catching things in the outer ranges.

For those unaware, Pokemon Go+ is a device that can be paired with an Android or iOS device and catch Pokemon and spin Pokestops.

This information comes days after Niantic received hefty criticism for its statement that it would reverse the spawn radius changes, despite plenty of positive feedback.

Steranka noted that for any future changes, the team wants each to be intentional and run smoothly. The Go director did state that the team is taking the feedback into consideration.