Pokémon fans outraged over game-breaking bug – here’s how to fix it

POKÉMON fans have been rushing to play the latest game from the series, but some have encountered an error.

People waited a long time for its release, but some players have been let down by its launch.

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Pokémon Sleep is the latest free game from The Pokémon Company, and is available now for Android and iOS. 

It is less of a game and more of an app, and has players tracking their sleep while collecting cute Pokémon. 

Sleep asks you to turn your phone face down on your bed while you sleep, where it uses microphones and movement to detect how long you sleep for and how good your sleep quality was.

The general rule of thumb is that the more you sleep, and the better the quality of your sleep, the more Pokémon you can find. 

The app rolled out earlier in the month to players across the world, starting in Australia and New Zealand and quickly becoming available in Europe, the UK, and eventually the US. 

So far, most feedback for the game seems to be good, with players of the sleep tracking app excited to wake up each day and meet new Pokémon. 

Unfortunately, some players have found their accounts restricted in strange ways, despite setting up their accounts properly. 

It seems some players have had their accounts restricted as if they were minors, with some features cut off entirely. 

This includes the ability to add friends online to compare sleep scores, and the ability to listen to sounds made during the night. 

It’s also been said that child players need to sleep for more hours to get higher sleep scores, while adult accounts need less sleep, though testing is underway to confirm this. 

Many suspect that this is a bug with the game’s birthday input, which is required upon starting an account in the app. 

It’s not known how many players are affected, but the game’s subreddit has been flooded with reports from players. 

I myself have experienced the issue, with my account restricted from the above features, despite having video of the account setup process showing I entered my birth date correctly. 

The Pokémon Company International (TPCi) however told GLHF that there are no bugs related to the age input of some players. 

A spokesperson for TPCi  said: “We can confirm that there is not a bug that is affecting the date of birth input during registration of a Pokémon Sleep account. 

“We encourage new players of Pokémon Sleep to make sure their date of birth is correctly selected before continuing the process of creating their profile.” 

The spokesperson added: “Should players enter incorrect information by mistake on their profile whilst creating an account, they can contact our customer service team who will be able to assist and update their profile accordingly.” 

Despite the advice from TPCi, many players have reported that they have attempted to contact Pokémon Sleep support, only to be told that support cannot change their birth dates. 

Emails shown to GLHF by affected players say: “Restrictions such as age cannot be changed, and we are unable to alter the date of birth that was initially entered when Pokémon Sleep was first launched.

“Unfortunately, we cannot modify date of birth even if it was entered incorrectly.” 

Players are nonetheless encouraged to contact Pokémon Sleep support, as these support emails were received by players before a TPCi spokesperson provided comment to GLHF. 

Pokémon Sleep has so far received four bug fix patches to address small issues with the app, so it’s hoped that future patches could help address the issue many players are facing. 

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.

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