Pokémon GO

Con 1: Playing the game has led to injuries, even deaths.

According to news reports, users have tripped, fallen into a lake, crashed a car, fallen on railroad tracks resulting in an amputated leg, and sustained other injuries while playing the game. [10][11][23][24]

The National Safety Council released a statement urging people to be more cautious while playing Pokémon GO, saying in part, “Reports of close calls associated with playing Pokémon Go already are rolling in. The Council urges gamers to consider safety over their scores before a life is lost. No race to ‘capture’ a cartoon monster is worth a life.” [12]

Head and neck injuries due to distracted drivers spiked after the launch of Pokémon GO. Distracted users are also inflicting injury on others. A driver playing Pokémon GO struck and killed an 85-year-old woman in Japan. [25][26]

Con 2: The app encourages gaming in inappropriate places.

In their quest to capture creatures, players are failing to respect their surroundings, spawning countless articles, such as Evan Dashevsky’s compilation, “18 Completely Inappropriate Places to Play Pokemon Go,” for PCMag. The list includes evidence that players have captured Pokémon in the emergency room, birthing rooms, the Auschwitz Nazi death camp, funerals, and on an active battlefield near Mosul, among others. Some players of the game even cheer out loud, in these solemn settings, upon capturing a Pokémon. [27]

Arlington National Cemetery released a statement saying, “Out of respect for all those interred at Arlington National Cemetery, we require the highest level of decorum from our guests and visitors. Playing games such as ‘Pokémon Go’ on these hallowed grounds would not be deemed appropriate.” [13]

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum also asked visitors to stop catching Pokémon on-site. [14]

The 9/11 Memorial in New York City issued a similar warning. “A lot of people died here. It’s a place to reflect, not to play a game,” a visitor told TIME magazine. [15]

Con 3: Playing the game incurs risks, from gaming disorders and privacy protection to criminal activity.

Hit games like Pokémon GO contribute to digital addiction and gaming disorder. Gaming disorder is defined by the World Health Organization as “a pattern of gaming behavior…characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences,” leading to “significant impairment in personal, family, social, educational, occupational or other important areas of functioning.” According to one study, up to 9% of die-hard players of the game fit the criteria for the disorder. [36]

There are also many privacy concerns with geolocation technology. As AI engineer Jesus Olivera has warned, “While the benefits of geolocation technology for both consumers and businesses are clear, they come with significant risks, particularly regarding the collection and storage of geolocation data.” Many of these companies that “track geolocation data and provide services around it operate discreetly in the background, potentially capturing data without the individual’s knowledge or consent.” [37] 

Distracted players of Pokémon GO have also been victims of a variety of crimes, including beatings, stabbings, and shootings. Players have also been victimized when they accidentally stumble upon and witness crimes in progress. [23][28][29][30][31][32]

Four teens in Missouri were arrested on suspicion of committing at least ten armed robberies by using the app to lure users to a specific location. A police department in Philadelphia warned on Twitter, “Be mindful on what you play online, A String of armed robberies perpetrated by suspects who targeted their victims using Pokémon Go.” [16][17]

(This article first appeared on ProCon.org and was last updated on July 8, 2024.)