Why are players upset with latest Pokemon GO character model update?

In a recent update for Pokemon GO, many players have noticed a distinct decrease in visual quality regarding the textures on the player's avatar character. While many players aren't happy about these changes, there may be a reason for these uglier avatars, which might further upset them.

This issue was recently brought up on the Pokemon GO subreddit when one user posted a side-by-side comparison of their avatar pre and post-update. This has sparked quite the discussion on the website, with many echoing their loathing of these new avatars, saying they look like a shell of their former selves.

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What is this update??? 😭😭😭 byu/Greenleaf208 inpokemongo

Comment byu/Greenleaf208 from discussion inpokemongo

Comment byu/Greenleaf208 from discussion inpokemongo

While the details on the faces of the new avatars are definitely more noticeable, the bodies lost a lot of the healthy glow they had, becoming much more bleak and neutral in their expression. These avatars also look off when alongside the Pokemon, as the original avatar model was made with the anime artstyle of the main franchise.

While these new avatars are not unusable or downright gross to look at, they lost a lot of the character the old artstyle brought into the real world. Pairing these new bland and average avatars with the Pokemon models and those of the Team GO Rocket members makes the new player avatars feel more like reused player assets rather than distinct characters made for Pokemon GO.

Comment byu/Greenleaf208 from discussion inpokemongo

Comment byu/Greenleaf208 from discussion inpokemongo

Comment byu/Greenleaf208 from discussion inpokemongo

Some users on the message board have entertained the idea that Niantic has introduced these new models as a way to save money. With Niantic also being the company behind Monster Hunter Now, a geocaching spin-off of the Monster Hunter franchise, many users believe these new models have come from this title.

Niantic has ported over these avatars from the newer game to pass it off as an upgrade for Pokemon GO while also making it cheaper for them to design clothing and cosmetics. Since both games would use the same avatar, this would hypothetically eliminate the need for a separate team to work on cosmetics for each game, only having one universal "character design" team.

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Why do Pokemon GO's avatars look so much worse?

Comparing the two female avatars, the two seem to share the exact same base body type (Image via Niantic/Reddit)

While some may take the idea of Niantic using Monster Hunter Now's avatars in Pokemon GO with a pinch of salt, looking at the comparison yields some uncanny results. While the artstyle of the Pokemon game is still somewhat present in the face of these new avatars, the body types and more realistic skin tone colors seem to be directly translated from the newer title.

Since this new "texture update" was done without any grand announcement on the game's website like other overhauls such as the Mega Evolution feature received, one could assume that Niantic wanted these new player models to slip under the radar. While it would be unfair to assume the worst, Niantic has made changes to Pokemon GO in the past in an effort to save money.