Pokémon Go Data Not Used to Train Military Drones, Niantic Spatial InsistsFocus Reset

Pokemon Go<br>No, Pokémon Go Data Isn't Being Used to Train Military Drones, Niantic Spatial Insists<br>"Not part of that agreement."

By Tom Phillips

Updated: Jun 12, 2026 2:02pm UTC

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Pokémon Go location data captured by players is not being used to train military drones, Niantic Spatial has insisted.

The denial follows the publication of a report by Dutch outlet Trouw, which examined a recently-announced partnership between Niantic Spatial and Vantor, an intelligence company with links to the defence sector.<br>Niantic and Vantor are working together on technology that could allow people and vehicles — including ground-based machines such as bomb disposal robots, or aerial systems such as drones — to be able to pinpoint their location even in areas without reliable GPS. This would allow such vehicles to operate in remote locations without signal, or in situations where signal could be jammed.

The article alleged that this would be made possible using "30 billion" pieces of location data obtained from Pokémon Go players — and that while they were knowingly using their phone to capture video of their surroundings, they were unknowingly also contributing to military technology. "First you think you are playing a game, and then suddenly your data can be used in a war," reads one eye-catching quote from Trouw's article. But this is untrue, Niantic Spatial has insisted.<br>"While we have an agreement with Vantor, announced last December, it is still in its very early stages, and sharing this data is not part of the agreement," a spokesperson for the company told IGN. "We are committed to working with all of our customers and partners to ensure that Niantic Spatial products are used in a responsible manner that upholds human rights and ethical principles."<br>So, what is Niantic Spatial up to? A spokesperson described the partnership's aim as building a "system capable of allowing a sensor to determine its position in the real world" to ensure "that a machine or people can share coordinates in real-time, even without a GPS signal." But while this visual position system was trained in part on voluntary ground scans, the underlying data is not shared with Vantor.<br>The Best Pokémon Spin-off Games

By moving away from the classic turn-based RPG formula, spin-off games allow us to see different shades of the Pokemon universe and experience it in a new light. While the core Pokémon games can be boiled down to the competitive side of things, they’re also about building an emotional attachment to your team, immersing yourself in this strange, utopic universe and, most importantly, being enchanted by the lore of the world and interacting with myths and legends. The best spin-offs focus on those other aspects and enhance that sense of wonder.<br>With Pokopia having just landed, this is the perfect time to celebrate all the different ways the pocket monsters have deviated from their usual turn-based RPG roots, and rank the top 10 Pokémon spin-off games.<br>" decoding="async" class="progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity" loading="lazy" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-cy="progressive-image"/>10. Pokémon Ranger

As already mentioned, the best spin-offs approach Pokémon from a fresh direction. Instead of playing as a trainer, in Pokémon Ranger you’re… well, a Ranger. Your job is essentially taking care of your local community. If a Pokémon is distressed, you’re tasked to calm it down. If one goes missing, you have to go find it. If there’s a fire, you can use a nearby water Pokémon to help put it out. Cute missions like these are strung together in a run, which replicates the sort of little tasks you’d see in cosy games. And they’re funny, too! Pokémon has always been fun, but rarely has it displayed actual comedic chops in the way it does here.

While Ranger definitely has its fans, it’s not higher on this list because the missions can get… repetitive. The main gameplay loop is literally about loops – you have to physically draw circles around the Pokémon you want to temporarily capture for each task using the Nintendo DS’ stylus. This has more depth than it sounds, but even the most challenging captures don’t feel completely satisfying. It’s an example of a really fun idea that doesn’t quite fully hold up in execution. Nonetheless, Pokémon Ranger benefits from that funny dialogue and some cool worldbuilding, allowing you to experience the universe from a very different, more vocation-focused perspective." decoding="async" class="progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity" loading="lazy" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" data-cy="progressive-image"/>View 11 Images

9. Pokémon Stadium 2

During...