Twitch Shows Now Mercy, Goes After ‘Pokemon Go’ Cheaters

Twitch has said explicitly in the past that it will not tolerate any infringement on video game guidelines that were laid down by publishers and developers, and now it is going after players and streamers of “Pokemon Go” who are using cheats. The streaming site reminded users that violations of established rules will be punished accordingly.

In a blog post, Twitch issued a statement to clarify that their rules against cheating extend to all online, multiplayer games. In case it wasn’t clear enough to users, “Pokémon Go” fell under this category.

“Recently we issued a statement that streaming content on our services which violates third-party terms of service or other user agreements is a violation of our own Terms of Service,” the post reads. “This also includes cheating in online multiplayer games as defined and enforced by the game developer. Today we would like to make clear that this policy also holds true for Pokémon GO content on Twitch.”

Anyone who is caught streaming “Pokemon Go” content on Twitch that involves cheating software will receive a strike on their account as a consequence, the post further states. For those who are wondering, activities that are considered cheating can include the use of one account by multiple users, selling existing accounts, and using location-altering tools or software, Engadget elaborates.  

This presents a problem for streamers who want to share a live feed of their attempt to catch “Pokemon” since the activity can be quite demanding in terms of bandwidth, Polygon notes; something that could be an issue when using mobile data. This is why some used tools that altered their locations in order to remain close to a Wi-Fi router and still be able to find Pokemon.

Along with “Pokemon Go,” Twitch wants to remind users about violations of terms of service with “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive” and “Overwatch,” which will also be punished via strikes and with the ban hammer.