At the time of this writing, the country of Italy is on lockdown due to the coronavirus. With some exceptions, people in Italy are not supposed to leave their homes, and those that break this rule have been charged by police. This includes a 31 year old man who recently left his home to stroll the streets of San Fermo to play the popular mobile augmented reality game Pokemon GO.
The 31 year old man was playing Pokemon GO with his daughter when he was caught by police. According to Italian publication Leggo, police asked the man what he was doing out of his home, as people are technically allowed to go outside if they have a good enough reason (grocery shopping, needing medicine, etc.). The man responded, "I have to hunt the Pokemon." Police determined that this was not a good enough reason for him to break Italy's coronavirus lockdown rules, and so he was charged, joining 43,000 others who have been charged in Italy since the lockdown started on March 9.
The coronavirus has had a profound impact on Pokemon GO since becoming a global pandemic. Niantic has canceled Pokemon GO Safari Zones and other events, and it has also worked to make the game more playable from home. This has included increasing the number of Pokemon that will spawn in one spot, making PokeStops drop more items than usual, and selling incense at a discounted price.
While Niantic has taken efforts to make Pokemon GO more playable for those who can't leave their home, there are aspects of the game that are generally inaccessible at this time. For example, Pokemon GO's legendary raids typically require large groups of people to join forces to take down ultra-powerful Pokemon. The CDC is recommending people all over the world stay home as much as possible and avoid large gatherings, meaning it will be generally impossible for Pokemon GO players to do legendary raids while still adhering to the CDC's guidelines.
It will be interesting to see if Niantic continues to change Pokemon GO to keep players engaged with the game while the world continues to contend with the coronavirus pandemic.
Pokemon GO is out now for iOS and Android mobile devices.