Another unfortunate incident occurred once again that involves Niantic Labs' mobile augmented reality game "Pokemon Go;" a streamer was mugged while playing the game, with his whole ordeal broadcast in real time to viewers on Twitch.
A Twitch streamer by the handle of Rickeybot was mugged last Monday morning while playing "Pokemon Go" in New York's Central Park, according to a report by the Evening Standard. RIckeybot, whose real name is Ricky Yaneza, was walking down Central Park playing the game and streaming live to viewers when he was assaulted.
A video of Rickeybot's ordeal, recorded through his livestream on Twitch, was posted on the LiveStreamFails YouTube channel. The video shows Yeneza casually walking down the street, playing "Pokemon Go," unaware of a man sneaking up behind him until it was too late.
The man assaulted Yeneza, who was pleading and begging all the while, before taking the latter's phone and making a run for it. It seems the mugger did not notice that Yeneza's phone was still streaming through "Pokemon Go" through the Rickeybot channel on Twitch, not until about a couple of minutes later when he seemed to erase the phone's data and turn it off.
Yeneza posted some messages on his Rickeybot Twitter account, with his first message after getting mugged stating his ordeal and how he spoke to the authorities and his injury. Yeneza's next few messages on Twitter indicated that Twitch suspended his account where he played "Pokemon Go," calling it "literally an insult to injury."
The next few posts on his Rickeybot Twitter account indicated he has the assault on a better quality video, which he had passed on to the police. Later messages indicated his injury was not as severe as initially thought, and that he would be taking a break for a while.
Yeneza's incident is only the latest in a string of unfortunate mishaps involving "Pokemon Go," with others ranging from people getting into accidents while distracted playing the game to non-players complaining about "Pokemon Go" players loitering near their homes.