Skip to main content

Niantic Labs sues hackers who help players cheat in Pokémon Go

Niantic Labs has filed a lawsuit against a group of hackers that are allegedly behind hacked versions of Pokémon Go and Ingress, which give players an unfair advantage in the mobile games.

The lawsuit targets Global++, which the developer claims is an “association of hackers” behind unauthorized versions of Pokémon Go and Ingress named PokeGo++ and Ingress++. The hacked apps allow players to cheat, while also infringing on its intellectual property rights, Niantic Labs said in its complaint. The developer also claims that the group has earned money by selling subscriptions to the apps.

Recommended Videos

Niantic Labs names Ryan “ElliotRobot” Hunt, described as the leader of the group and the main developer of the hacked apps, and Alen “iOS n00b” Hundur, who helps develop the apps and promotes them on YouTube, in the lawsuit. The legal action also includes 20 other members of Global++ that have not yet been personally identified.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The developer is hoping for a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit, which will require Global++ to immediately stop distributing the hacked apps and working on reverse engineering the code to its games.

The timing of the lawsuit coincides with the upcoming launch of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Niantic Labs’ next major project that is already undergoing beta testing in New Zealand and Australia. Niantic Labs claims that Global++ has already created Potter++, which the developer said will threaten the success of the game.

The lawsuit against Global++ is the latest move by Niantic Labs to crack down on Pokémon Go cheaters, which have been a problem since almost as soon as the game launched in 2016. The developer has been bringing down the banhammer against players who were caught cheating through methods such as location spoofing and hacked apps, such as the ones created by Global++.

Last year, Niantic Labs also started deleting Pokémon from the accounts of players who used third-party services for location spoofing to catch them.

With the lawsuit against Global++, Niantic Labs is protecting its multi-million dollar investment in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, as it looks to prevent cheaters from populating the game as they have done in Pokémon Go.

Aaron Mamiit
Aaron received an NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was four years old, and he has been fascinated…
Pokémon Go developer’s next Nintendo AR game is Pikmin Bloom
Pikmin grow flowers as they walk in a park.

Niantic, the developer of the well-known Pokémon Go, has announced Pikmin Bloom, its latest AR game. The game was teased earlier this year, but there have been few details up to this point. The game will be available on mobile devices in Australia and Singapore starting Tuesday, then on phones worldwide in the coming days. Like Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom will be free to download, but there are few similarities between the two titles.

Pikmin Bloom - Extended Announcement Trailer + Miyamoto (Nintendo Mobile)

Read more
Pokémon No Day: Why fans are boycotting Pokémon Go today
Style your in-game avatar however you want.

Pokémon Go fans are boycotting the popular mobile video game today with a protest dubbed Pokémon No Day. The boycott, which has gained traction on Twitter, is intended to speak out against Niantic rolling back the game's COVID-19 friendly updates.

As the world fell into a lockdown in 2020, Pokémon Go developer Niantic had to act fast. Pokémon Go used to require that players go outside and walk around to catch some Pokémon. However, with COVID-19 spreading, doing so became dangerous. To keep players playing, Niantic opted to make it possible to play Pokemon Go from home. However, the developer is now rolling back those changes, even as a new Delta variant of the virus spreads. Understandably, fans are not happy and are taking today to boycott the game.

Read more
Pokémon Go gets a special New Pokémon Snap event featuring a shiny Smeargle
Pokemon Go

Pokémon Go is getting a special event to celebrate the release of New Pokémon Snap. Players will be able to grab some photography-themed goodies and have a chance to catch a shiny Smeargle.

New Pokémon Snap, a sequel to a 1999 Nintendo 64 photography game, comes to Nintendo Switch at the end of the month. Pokémon Go's special event lines up with the game's release window. It'll begin one day before the Switch game launches on Thursday, April 29, and end on Sunday, May 2.

Read more