According to the developers, “After reviewing many reports of in-game cheating, we have started taking action against players taking unfair advantage of and abusing Pokémon GO. Moving forward, we will continue to terminate accounts that show clear signs of cheating.” Prior to this, there were also reports that some developers of bots had received cease and desist notices.
Niantic adds, “Our main priority with Pokémon GO is to provide a fair, fun, and legitimate game experience for all players. If our system has determined that you cheated, then you will receive an email stating that your account has been terminated.” However the developer points gamers towards a form on their website that gamers can fill out if they believe that they have been wronged, although we’re not sure how effective that will be.
Based on the comments following its Facebook post, many gamers are upset by this announcement as they believe that in some cases, “cheats” won’t be needed if Niantic had fixed certain issues with the game to begin with, like a better tracking system, but we guess unless you plan to give up the game for good, you’ll have no choice but to play within Niantic’s rules.