Pokemon Go Trespassing Lawsuit Settled, Lawyers Clean Up

Published: September 6, 2019 2:45 PM /

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Pokemon GO NYC Park

Remember back when Pokemon Go first launched? There were more than a few instances of Pokemon Go trespassing incidents, and some of these people said that they were going to sue Niantic over the problem. Well, they did, and one of these cases has just been settled. Unfortunately, the plaintiffs didn't exactly win big.

Way back in 2016, Pokemon Go was unleashed on the world and players ran all over trying to catch the adorable digital creatures for themselves. Unfortunately, some of these people trespassed on private property or played the game in inappropriate locations like the Holocaust museum. Some of these incidents surrounding the crowd-created Poké Stops led to lawsuits, although it was largely Niantic who was sued and not the players (thankfully).

Pokemon Go Trespassing Case Lawyers Make Bank

The Register reports that Niantic settled a lawsuit surrounding Pokemon Go trespassing to the tune of over $4 million. Rather than fight against this in court, they decided it was just easier to spend a few Poké bucks and make the problem go away for now.

Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, they didn't get the payday they were hoping for. The judge dismissed the initially requested sum of $2,500 per named plaintiff, knocking down the awarded complaint to just $1,000 — for the 12 named plaintiffs. Other members of the class will have no available awards. The lawyers, however, ended up getting the vast majority of the settlement as part of their legal fees, likely $4 million or more.

As part of the settlement, Niantic is going to be setting up an online web portal to assuage people who have had to deal with players on private land and promised to settle 95% of complaints in 15 days. Hopefully, this will greatly reduce future cases of trespassing on private land and everyone will be happier for it.

What do you think of the Pokemon Go trespassing settlement? Do you think Niantic is at fault for Pokemon Go players using the game on private land? Let us know in the comments below!

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More Info About This Game
Learn more about Pokemon Go
Game Page Pokemon Go
Developer
Niantic
Publisher
Niantic
Platforms
Android, IOS
Release Date
July 6, 2016 (Calendar)
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