Pokémon GO appears to be struggling with technical problems once again. On September 4, players experienced a serious GPS-related issue that effectively made the game unplayable for a period of roughly 45 minutes.
During the problems, players could open Pokémon GO, but actually playing the game was another story. Pokémon stopped appearing properly and players were left with practically nothing to catch until the issue suddenly resolved itself.
For a game built almost entirely around your real-world location, GPS problems are among the worst technical issues Pokémon GO can experience.
Pokémon GO Players Left With Nothing to Catch
The problems appeared to be connected to Pokémon GO’s location and GPS systems.
For around 45 minutes, affected players were essentially stuck. Pokémon were not available to catch as expected, leaving trainers unable to properly participate in one of the game’s most basic activities.
Eventually, everything returned to normal and Pokémon began appearing again.
However, the temporary recovery doesn’t make the situation much less frustrating.
Pokémon GO has suffered from several technical problems recently, and another period where players simply cannot play normally isn’t exactly helping.
GPS Problems Can Completely Break Pokémon GO
Unlike many mobile games, Pokémon GO depends heavily on accurate location information.
The game uses your location to determine nearby Pokémon, PokéStops, Gyms and other activities. When that system stops behaving correctly, a huge part of Pokémon GO effectively stops functioning with it.
GPS problems can also cause characters to jump around the map, locations to fail to load correctly or the game to believe a player is somewhere completely different.
That makes location-related problems much more serious than a simple visual bug.
Another Technical Headache for Pokémon GO
What makes yesterday’s incident particularly annoying is how suddenly it happened.
Players who simply wanted to open Pokémon GO and catch some Pokémon were instead left waiting for the game to start functioning normally again.
Around 45 minutes might not sound enormous compared with a full-day server outage, but limited-time events, Daily Adventure Incense, Lucky Eggs and other timed mechanics make every minute matter.
If you activate something that only lasts for a limited period and Pokémon GO’s GPS decides to stop cooperating, that time isn’t coming back.
Pokémon GO Needs More Stability
Pokémon GO is now more than a decade into its life, and players should reasonably expect its fundamental systems to work reliably.
Bugs are unavoidable in any continuously updated online game. However, GPS and location tracking aren’t minor background features in Pokémon GO. They are fundamental parts of the entire game.
Yesterday’s problems eventually disappeared, but that’s not really the point.
When Pokémon GO loses track of the player’s location or stops providing Pokémon to catch, there isn’t much of a game left to play.
Hopefully this latest GPS headache remains a short-lived incident rather than the beginning of another round of technical problems.
