Pokemon GO reportedly bans Android players for running a certain version of MIUI

Pokemon GO remains one of the most popular augmented reality (AR) games in the world today, even if its market share is being cut into by newer titles such as Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Currently, it has become embroiled in a controversy in which it is alleged it is blocking, striking or even permabanning certain users, all of whom have the same subset of Redmi mobile devices.

These allegations, recently posted to Reddit, appear to revolve around those who play Pokemon GO with phones from the Redmi 5, Note 5 and Note 7 series. These users assert that they have been playing the game without attempts at spoofing or other forms of cheating to which the game typically responds with punishment.

It is possible that the app, published by the developer Niantic, has mistakenly detected root access in these phones, which may lead to unwarranted strikes and bans. However, it appears that in these cases, the unwitting culprit is MIUI 10.3.2.0.

It may contain updated versions of Game Turbo, a suite of software tweaks intended to enhance gameplay on the Redmi devices on which this ROM is installed. Therefore, it may be that Pokemon GO perceives them as "cheats" and reprimands the player with a loss of access.

Niantic has responded to affected users with claims that it is currently assessing this situation, and will revise inadvertent incidences of blocking. The company has done so through its official Twitter account; however, many respondents have expressed dissatisfaction with what it has done thus far to remedy the "unfair" player-flagging.