Pokémon Go updates: Hackers take over gyms with eggs; Niantic bans hackers from playing

The recent phenomenon in the mobile gaming world, "Pokémon Go," has been able to captivate multitudes of mobile gamers worldwide. In their attempt to "catch 'em all," players and cunning software developers have developed several ways to bypass video game developer Niantic's system. Recently, hackers devised a way to take over gyms using Pokémon eggs.

One "Pokémon Go" player turned to Reddit to complain about the recent glitch in the system. According to the user, a gym at Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain in Manhattan was unusable because it was taken over by an egg with zero combat power. Since an egg is not a Pokémon, players can't go against it.

Other users also complained in the same thread, stating that other gyms in New York were in the same situation – and apparently, the same user was behind it.

According to the International Business Times, the hacker was also responsible for taking over two gyms in London, the Buckingham Palace gym and the Big Ben gym.

What's strange is that hacking gyms will not give any monetary benefits. Hence, users are perplexed by the motive behind the recent case. It seems as if these hacks were done to deliberately irritate the loyal followers of "Pokémon Go."

Players who are in it for the entire traditional Pokémon experience won't have to worry for long though. Niantic has taken these hackers seriously and it prohibits hackers from using the app. The developer will continue to ban users who are physically absent from the game.

To note, users collect eggs from PokéStops and then transfer these into an incubator. To hatch an egg, a user needs to walk a particular distance ranging from 2 to 10 kilometers. Once the user completes the required distance, the egg hatches and out comes a random Pokémon.

Niantic will hopefully rid the game of its hackers, so the company may concentrate on producing new features for the game rather than worry about its maintenance.