'When Pokémon GO(es) Too Far: Augmented Reality and Tort Law' by Sara Gold in (2018) 38
Whittier Law Review comments
No one could have anticipated the drastic consequences of Pokémon GO, which quickly became the most popular smartphone game in U.S. history with more than $2 billion in global revenue from July 2016 to December 2018.
In this augmented-reality game, players are required to travel with their phones to real-life locations in order to collect virtual Pokémon creatures and win rewards. The game, however, did not take precautions to avoid sending players to private property. As a result, homeowners nationwide began to suffer property damage, belligerence, and harassment from game players trespassing on their properties at all hours of the day and night.
The resulting class-action lawsuit against Pokémon GO asked whether a game owner can be held liable for engineering a game in a manner encouraging other people to trespass
