Following new massive and nauseating Epstein files dumps, the company that owns Pokémon GO finally removed a stop on Epstein Island. According to reports, the PokéStop—where players could find Pokémon to catch—was added by a user in 2020 or 2021.
The owning company has since changed hands, but many still wonder how it took so long for the stop to vanish.
No more Pokémon at Epstein Island
Prior to 2025, the popular app Pokémon GO was owned by Niantic. Back then, players of app games like this and Ingress could use their location data to submit "points of interest" that could become PokéStops.
Around the early years of the COVID pandemic, someone submitted a point for a small private island called Little Saint James—better known today as Epstein Island. Jeffrey Epstein, convicted sexual offender and human trafficker, used this island to host his horror parties for years before his arrest.
Somehow, this proposed stop made it through the approval process. While fans noticed this over a year ago, at least, it remained up until outrage fueled by the Epstein files finally convinced the new Pokémon GO owners, Scopely, to take action.
Scopely closed the deal to buy the app from Niantic for $3.5 billion in May 2025. Gaming Bible reports that Scopely removed the Epstein Island PokéStop on Feb. 9, 2026.
Whoever added the stop in the first place very likely knew what they were doing. Screenshots show that the photo for the "point of interest" came from drone footage someone took of the island not long before Epstein died in prison. The island's nightmare reputation specifically inspired this incursion.
Some claimed that fellow users reviewed each "point of interest," and based on those reviews, the system would approve it as a PokéStop or not. At the same time, users could report approved stops for various issues, leading to the removal of multiple locations.
"That's one hell of a 'mistake' to make"
Pokémon fans and others have questions for both Niantic and Scopely over why that stop was approved and allowed to go on existing for so long.
"That's one hell of a 'mistake' to make," said Redditor u/Cute-Beyond-8133. "Like 2021 is 3 years after Epstein's 'suicide.'"
"By then, everyone knew at least the basics of what that island was and what happened on it."
"Hey, Pokémon Go team, how about making all super controversial locations completely void of the game?" u/LostWoodsInTheField suggested. "Like… the homes of pedophiles."
"Unrelated question. Completely unrelated. Is there one at the white house?"
Others defended the team by pointing out that at least they've done something, unlike a certain administration.
"And just like that, they've taken more action than the DOJ," u/Critical_Cat_8162 remarked.
Meanwhile, some wondered if data now held by Scopely could provide more insights as to who traveled to the worst island ever.
"Maybe we can track who was on the island by who used the pokestop?" wrote u/This_guy_works.
Unfortunately, users can "spoof" their location to "travel" to a stop without physically being there, as many have done to reach the Epstein Island one.
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