'Pokémon Go' Craze Raises Concerns for Historical Sites: Gamers Still Entering Holocaust Museum; No Definite Solution Yet from Nintendo

By Icar Ballesteros, CP Contributor Thursday, July 14, 2016

"Pokémon GO" has been a huge sensation for the past couple of days. Since the launch of the app, more and more people are catching Pokemons every day. In fact, a lot of reports state that bizarre places are being filled with gamers just to catch a Pokémon.

There have been a lot of historical sites made as a Pokestop in the game. The sites that are sparking controversy are the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Arlington National Cemetery and Auschwitz.

"Pokémon Go" in Historical Sites

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is trying its best to have the location safe from gamers. In fact, Andrew Hollinger, communications director of the Holocaust Museum, said that the game does not belong to the museum even though he and his colleagues understand the value of it.

He stated that playing "Pokémon GO" in a memorial dedicated to the victims of Nazism is inappropriate. They also encouraged their visitors to use their phones instead in sharing the museum's content while in the place. He also stated that while technology is an important tool for learning today, the game is just not fit for the educational and memorial mission. The Holocaust Museum staff is looking for ways on how to remove the museum from the game.

Nintendo responds

The museum has already reached out to Nintendo regarding the issue, and they received a statement from Pokemon Company and game developer Niantic, stating that:

"PokéStops and Gyms in Pokémon GO are found at publicly accessible places such as historical markers, public art installations, museums and monuments. If you want to report inappropriate locations or content, please submit a ticket on the Pokémon GO Support website at https://support.pokemongo.nianticlabs.com/hc/en-us."

However, Hollinger said the link in the statement does not work but claimed that he e-mailed Nintendo again with the request to have the Holocaust Museum be removed from the game. Nintendo responded, saying it currently has "no further information to share on this topic."

The Holocaust Museum is still waiting for a solution on how the site can be removed from the game to avoid unexpected crowd.