A couple from Detroit has filed a class-action lawsuit against the creators of Pokemon GO, because they aren’t happy with the way the game draws people to the park near their home.
The Detroit Free Press reports that Scott and Jayme Dodich of St. Clair Shores, sued developer Niantic, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company in California federal court.
The Dodiches are attempting to prevent Niantic from putting Pokemon on or near private properties, unless they have an owner’s blessing, which is fair enough – but I guess the question of what constitutes ‘near’ would become a problem.
Less fair is that the lawsuit requests that a share of Pokemon GO’s profit is given to residents who’s properties are hot stops for Pokemon trainers, and therefore allegedly a big part of the game’s popularity.
The Dodiches explain that Pokemon GO players often walk on their lawn, peer into their windows, and even occasionally swear at the couple.
They live across the street from Wahby Park, which serves as a Pokemon Gym, while several PokeStops are also nearby.
The lawsuit says:
Nobody gets sleep anymore. How is this acceptable? … They hang out on our lawns, trample landscaping, look in vehicles … We don’t feel safe … I don’t feel safe sitting on our porch. Defendants have shown a flagrant disregard for the foreseeable consequences of populating the real world with virtual Pokemon without seeking the permission of property owners.
Okay, this might be a serious case – but I think we can all agree that the phrase ‘consequences of populating the real world with virtual Pokemon’ means that we truly live in a wild time.
Niantic has yet to comment on the matter – it does offer the option to exclude certain areas from being part of Pokemon GO via this form, but there are no guarantees.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.