Is ‘Pokemon Go’ making people violent?

‘Pokemon Go’ is hardly the game that promotes violence in public. Its gameplay revolves around hunting pokemon, capturing them and making them battle others they’re like as such. Therefore, the Niantic-backed Augmented Reality (AR) venture doesn’t come to our minds when we speak about violence in video games.

In a recent turn of events, one of ‘Pokemon Go’ players allegedly assaulted another player over losing a gym. “If video games such as the Call of Duty series do lead to violence among the youth, how can you explain an assault caused by the family-friendly Pokémon GO?,” asks Tech Times.

Game developer Niantic launched the Augmented Reality (AR) game in July 2016. It had released with a massive hype, which also resulted in several untoward incidents. For example, ‘Pokemon Go’ players went to the extent of trespassing on private properties and causing traffic accidents.

The latest report, however, appears to be the worst of them all. Three men were sitting on a park bench located in Burnt Bridge Creek Trail of Vancouver when a stranger pulled up and threatened them with a tire iron. “He comes out of nowhere, yelling, ‘Which one of you is Andy?’ with a tire iron in his hand,” said Andrew Otton, whose username on Pokémon GO is AndySamberg. Otton was quick to realize that the person the man was looking for was him. He further went on to reveal that he had taken control of a gym without realizing that another player had claimed it. “Hey, did you just take this gym from me? That’s pretty messed up, man,” the man very angrily said, according to Otton.

The incident didn’t raise any alarms, but the two ended up in a struggle, with one trying to choke another. It is unclear how the confrontation ended, but Otton and Hagstrom got the man’s license plate and shared it on social media.