Niantic has postponed its upcoming Pokemon GO community day due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The event was expected to take place on March 15th and would have seen the psychic cat Abra take the spotlight, however this has now been moved to an unknown date.

Furthermore, the US developer has rolled out a number of protective measures to help keep players occupied among the current pandemic.

Trainers can purchase a one-time bundle of 30 Incense for one PokeCoin in-game, which will see Pokemon appear nearby for one hour and effectively help people to not leave their house.

Niantic has also halved the hatch distance for Eggs when placed into an Incubator as well, and made it so PokeStops will drop Gifts more frequently.

Increased spawns

Finally, general Pokemon habitats will spawn more of the digital creatures, with Pokemon appearing in the wild increasing too.

All of these measures are effective immediately and will be in place until further notice, likely until the coronavirus pandemic ends.

Niantic recently commemorated a mural in Pokemon GO via a Pokestop dedicated to deceased US YouTuber Desmond 'Etika' Amofah.

We also spoke to Niantic head of developer relations Kellee Santiago on empowering others to make unique games as part of our Jobs in Games series.