A county in the US has decided to make Niantic, which makes Pokemon Go, pay for new park permits, because of the damage large numbers of players have had on the area’s green spaces.
During the game’s overnight success last summer, Milwaukee County officials in the US state of Wisconsin said thousands of people gathered in one park at all hours of the day, which they said led to traffic hold-ups, overflowing bathrooms and an increase in litter.
County supervisor Sheldon Wasserman said it had been months “of basically absolute hell”.
ridiculous crowd of people trying to catch a Venusaur in Central Park #PokemonGo pic.twitter.com/AuNvCeYRoK
— Jarry (@jarry) July 23, 2016
Low-risk prisoners were called in to clear up rubbish and security were forced to work overtime because of the huge increase in Pokemon-induced footfall in the Wisconsin city’s national parks. Other augmented reality games developers will also be made to buy a permit, which will be similar to the ones other groups currently have to purchase to host physical events in the parks.These will cost companies between $100 (£80) and $1,000 (£805) depending on how much of the park will be used and how many people are expected to be there.They say the cash will contribute to the upkeep of the parks.
A little piece of the evening Pokemon Go crowd. pic.twitter.com/2Jz8fZ9enI
— Jenny Griffee (@jgriffee) July 25, 2016
But not everyone’s for the scheme.
Eddie Cullen, a county supervisor who voted against it, said: “If someone crashes their car while using (Google Maps) it’s not Google Maps’ responsibility to pay for the damages.”
There’s still no word from Niantic, which just brought out a generation two update of the game, which introduces 100 new Pokemon to catch.
