Pokemon GO players might get the ban hammer for using bots

If you've been one of the many Pokemon GO players using bot program to trick the game's GPS into thinking you're at a certain location, your playing days may be numbered. A new update to the official Pokemon GO website reveals that Niantic Labs is starting to seriously crack down on cheaters. If you do happen to get banned, you can submit an appeal by heading here, but you're probably out of luck.

Here's what Niantic is saying:

"Our goal is to provide a fair, fun and legitimate game experience for everyone. We will continue to work with all of you to improve the quality of the gameplay, including ongoing optimization and fine tuning of our anti-cheat system." 

What exactly constitutes cheating? Here's what they have laid out:

"This includes, but is not limited to: falsifying your location, using emulators, modified or unofficial software and/or accessing Pokémon GO clients or backends in an unauthorized manner including through the use of third-party software."

Locator sites and bot programs have been popular ways for players to circumvent the game's rules. Niantic has been actively removing both of them, much to the chagrin of many players. However, the company claims that these things have been hurting the game by eating up server resources. Naturally, the fans didn't want to hear that, and they have been making sure that their voices are heard, for better and/or worse.

Sources: [Gamespot, Pokemon GO website, Pokemon GO TOS]