Niantic addresses backlash to Pokémon GO character creator update

Back in April of this year, Pokémon GO received an update to its avatar system. With the new update to both the Style Shop and avatars, Trainers got access to a wider range of expression with upgraded cosmetics to flaunt their unique styles. Since that update, Trainers can personalize their avatar by adjusting body shape, size, eye color, skin tones, and new hairstyles.

While that kind of update seems like it would be a major win for all Trainers, there was a considerable amount of backlash following its implementation. Players felt that Niantic strayed a bit too far from previous designs, with a not-insignificant amount of people calling the update a step back rather than upgrade.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Pokémon GO director Michael Steranka opened up on the response to the character creator update, and noted that Niantic has been working hard to find a place where all Trainers are feeling satisfied with their avatars.

**We definitely saw a lot of feedback that players felt like it still didn’t match what they were hoping for. The team has been hard at work at looking at that feedback and we’ve already made some updates and adjustments, things like improving the different body proportions that you can have and different skin tones. But I would say it’s just the start, we want to continue adding more to the feature, making it more diverse. My goal is for every single player in the world to really feel they can be represented in Pokémon Go.

The other thing I would just share on this front is just how technically challenging that feature was for us to bring out into the market because we have this backlog of different avatar items and articles and clothing and poses, and those were all designed for two very specific form factors. Taking those dozens and hundreds of avatar items and applying it to much more customisable characters was very, very tricky for us. But we have seen the feedback and have already been making some adjustments and and we have more to come.**

[Pokémon GO director Michael Steranka]