Portland Wants Pokemon Go Players Out of Cemetery

Pokémon Go was a huge hit when it was launched on mobile devices in 2016. It had over 500 million downloads in just six months, however the active players in October of 2018 had dwindled to 11 million. Those 11 million though are hardcore players and some of them have become a problem for the City of Portland.

If you aren't familiar with Pokémon Go, it's an augmented reality mobile game that makes you search in the real world for Pokémon characters to catch. For those that still play, it's very addicting.

In Portland, one of those places that Pokémon are hidden is Evergreen Cemetery and in a quest to "catch 'em all" the city has been dealing with several distracted drivers trying to find Pokémon on the cemetery grounds. According to the Portland Press Herald, the city has asked the makers of Pokémon Go City to remove Evergreen Cemetery as a location to find Pokémon, hoping people that hold their phones up while driving over the narrow roads will search elsewhere.

So far no one has been hurt and no damage has been done in the cemetery, but there have been close calls that are concerning to the city and they fear that eventually something terrible could happen.

No word yet from the Pokémon Go folks on if and when the cemetery will be removed from the game.