Epstein island Pokémon Go stop removed after fan outrage

A Pokémon Go stop tied to a sundial on Little Saint James was removed around Feb. 9 after players flagged its presence. The islet, long inaccessible and linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was an unexpected location for a marker in the augmented reality game.

PokéStops can be added by players, and one estimate based on Ingress data suggests the Little Saint James marker appeared around 2020 or 2021. The stop’s real-world image appears to come from older drone footage posted to YouTube. Niantic did not immediately respond to requests about the removal.

Players who tricked the game into thinking they were on the island reported ordinary Pokémon spawning there, and some deliberately caught meme creatures such as Lopunny to highlight the location’s troubling context. Renewed attention following the government’s release of over 3.5M Epstein documents drove a surge of virtual visits to the sundial, drawing criticism that pressured the change.

pokemon go, pokestop, saint james, sundial, jeffrey epstein, niantic, ingress, drone footage, lopunny, epstein documents