The long-awaited fallout for Pokemon GO users who have cheated, at least according to Niantic, seems to be happening as account termination notifications have begun.

Back in the halcyon days of Pokemon GO's early success after launch, it seemed like nothing could spoil the mood of adventurous trainers roaming the streets for increasingly rare and strong Pokemon to add to their teams. Unfortunately, however, that peace wouldn't last very long - Niantic's mobile game has been riddled with glitches and outright broken features, which has led to the development of many third-party Pokemon GO apps that have been used by millions while players wait for the fixes they want.

What many players didn't know, at least initially, was that Niantic considers it illegal to use third-party apps to play Pokemon GO. Although Niantic's stance on these apps has done little to stop the Pokemon GO community from using the apps they feel should be included in the official game in the first place, it appears that Niantic is done asking trainers nicely. Today, Niantic has started to issue ban notifications to users who have used specific third-party apps or other pieces of software that violate Pokemon GO's terms of use agreement.

The notification, as seen above and originally shared on Reddit by user zslayer89, specifically calls out the usage of any third-party app as grounds for account termination, which should be a scary thought for the many Pokemon GO users who relied on Pokevision while the official tracking software in the game was broken. While there were rumors that Niantic was going to punish people who cheated more maliciously, like those who used Pokemon GO GPS spoofing, it appears that the bans will be much more widespread than previously expected.

Of course, Niantic's ban notification also includes a link to a form users can fill out if they believe their account "has been terminated in error", but that process could take a lengthy amount of time given the more than 75 million Pokemon GO downloads that occurred in its first month of existence. Users who have experienced just how long it has taken Niantic to fix Pokemon GO's broken tracking tool, a core feature of the game that's failure to work properly spawned many of the first third-party Pokemon GO apps, likely won't be holding their breath over a quick resolution.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for players of Pokemon GO ever since the game debuted, and if Niantic starts banning those who have used third-party apps, that's likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Hopefully the developer shows a little leniency for those who simply turned to those apps because it was incredibly difficult to play Pokemon GO through its glitches otherwise.

What do you think of the Pokemon GO bannings finally beginning? Are you worried it will affect you, or do you think Niantic will only go after those who really abused the system? Let us know in the comments below.

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Pokemon GO is available now in select regions on Android and iOS mobile devices.

Source: Reddit (via VG 24/7)