The newest feature of the immensely popular alternate reality game "Pokemon Go" called Ex Raids is still on its testing phase. A group of gamers were reminded that the feature was still a work in progress when their scheduled EX Raid was cancelled after the Gym where the raid was supposed to take place in had mysteriously disappeared.
A number of "Pokemon Go" trainers in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, were given invites to an exclusive Pokemon raid this week. They were supposed to battle the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo at the gym at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church.
However, the players' raid passes disappeared overnight without any notification from the game's developer, Niantic. The players also discovered that the gym at the specified location has also disappeared.
Unfortunately, Niantic did not attempt to officially get in touch with the concerned players or move the EX Raid to a different location or another time. Since the players were not given any notification or warnings about the EX Raid's cancellation, it was not clear what exactly happened and why.
A Niantic representative posted on Reddit, explaining that the gym was removed in accordance to the company's policies. "When a location is removed from the game ahead of an EX Raid, the EX Raid Pass will automatically be removed from your inventory," said the Niantic representative. "We're still field-testing EX Raids and making improvements. We're currently working to address this case in a better way. In a future release, we'll have a more elegant experience for when an EX Raid is canceled."
While it is understandable that there will be issues with the new feature since it is still in its testing phase, cancelling events and leaving loyal players hanging without any notification or explanation may not sit well with some of the game's players. Time will tell if Niantic will be able to fix the feature soon and avoid this kinds of mishap moving forward.
