'Pokemon GO' gym closures just around the corner

Just a couple of days ago, Niantic revealed to the “Pokemon GO” community that gyms would be shut down sometime in summer. Fortunately, this is just a temporary move in preparation for a major overhaul of the mobile game’s gym systems. Apparently, though, it seems that day is just around the corner.

The company decided to bring significant change to the “Pokemon GO” gym systems following feedbacks and/or suggestions from the community.

But for these changes to be applied, gyms are to be closed for a period of time of time. The studio promised that before they do so, they will inform the fandom beforehand so as to have them prepared.

Game’s website hints at gym closure date

Interestingly, players have noticed something odd on the official site (particularly on the support page) of the hit augmented reality game. A banner that reads “Heads Up” can be seen. It even says, “Gyms will soon be closing temporarily for remodeling.” Now, the entire fandom are wondering if this is among the advance notices that Niantic promised to do so.

Either that, there is no stopping the developers from shutting the gyms temporarily.

As of this writing, however, the company has yet to release any official statement regarding the closure of “Pokemon GO” gyms. Neither did they confirm the speculations of players regarding the banner that they saw on the game’s official site. When it happens, though, they will have no access to these gyms. Attacking and defending with Pokemon while in these areas are impossible.

Why the shutdown and changes are necessary

As mentioned, Niantic plans to remodel the entire gym system in “Pokemon GO.” Players were complaining about it being in a stagnant phase due to various reasons. These include the likes of bot accounts, exploits, and gameplay that is simply boring.

In fact, many have wondered what took the studio too long to realize that the feature needs dramatic change when, in reality, players have been complaining about it ever since.

The company did not iterate what sort of changes they will bring to “Pokemon GO” gyms. However, they ensured the community that, in one way or another, the new system will encourage more cooperative gameplay and better in-game experience. More importantly, the player balance will be promoted so as to keep everything at an acceptable level. There are also talks about this move being part of an update that will bring the highly anticipated Legendary creatures.