In Pokemon GO, why are there less Pokemon in rural areas?

I’m pretty sure “the programmers don’t have enough time” isn’t the correct answer. Google Maps has information on what terrain (trees, water, buildings, etc.) are in each area. Programming Pokemon of different types to appear in different kinds of terrain would be better than just using Pidgeys and Rattatas as placeholders. Currently, there are only 17 types, so programming such a thing shouldn’t be too hard.

Pleaselog inorregisterto add a comment.

You are correct, it’s not a programming issue.

Pokémon GO is made by the company Niantic. Previously, Niantic created a very similar game to Pokémon GO called Ingress. The locations of Pokémon in GO are the exact same as the locations used in Ingress. Seriously, most of Pokémon GO is just reskinned Ingress. Ingress locations are population-based, and there are moreIngressmahobbits(I don’t play Ingress so I don’t know any of the real terms)portals, they’re called portalsin urban areas than out in the boondocks. Pokéstops and Gyms in GO are the same locations as the portals in Ingress. So, the logic is that because Ingress had less of a rural following, when GO adopted its locations it suffered the same way.

A source I found.

Also, as for having different Pokémon for different terrain: While not confirmed,The Silph Roadanalyzed the capture data of Pokémon GO and found that different species of Pokémon do in fact appear in different biomes. For example, arid areas have lots of Ground and Fire Pokémon and forested areas (like where I live) have more Grass and Bug Pokémon. Pidgey and Ratatta are not location based, they will show up anywhere.