The Digital Shadow: When Pokémon Go Met Little Saint James
While Pokémon Go landmarks are ubiquitous in urban centers, the discovery of a digital waypoint on Little Saint James came as a jarring revelation. The private islet, once the notorious epicenter of Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal enterprise, is strictly off-limits to the public. Nevertheless, until very recently, players of Niantic’s augmented reality hit could virtually visit a “sundial” at the compound to replenish their supplies and encounter digital creatures.
The mechanics of Pokémon Go encourage exploration by pinning game assets to real-world monuments. While Niantic typically favors accessible, safe public spaces, the platform allows for user-generated submissions. This manual oversight occasionally results in the integration of inappropriate or hazardous locations into the game’s global map—though few are as contentious as a fortified island associated with systemic abuse.
Although Niantic is generally proactive in scrubbing sensitive locations, the community first flagged the “Sundial” PokéStop on Little Saint James roughly a year ago. Data derived from Ingress—the foundational AR framework for Niantic’s catalog—suggests the marker was likely established between 2020 and 2021. Adding to the surreal nature of the entry, the in-game photograph of the sundial appears to be a screengrab from archival drone footage uploaded to YouTube years prior. Niantic has yet to provide an official statement regarding the timeline of the stop’s removal.
Users who utilized “spoofing” software—tools that manipulate GPS data to simulate physical presence—reported that the island hosted standard Pokémon spawns. However, the site’s grim history prompted a subset of the community to seek out specific “meme” creatures. Many targeted Lopunny, a Pokémon frequently subjected to hyper-sexualized internet subcultures, specifically to create a digital record of the creature being caught at Epstein’s residence.
The digital landmark persisted until approximately February 9, following a report by Gaming Bible. This sudden erasure likely stems from the heightened scrutiny surrounding the Department of Justice’s release of 3.5 million documents related to the Epstein investigation. As Kotaku noted, virtual traffic to the islet surged in the wake of the document dump, making the stop’s presence untenable for a brand tailored toward families. Subsequent coverage highlighted the disturbing dissonance of a children’s game effectively serving as a portal to a site of profound trauma.
The intersection of Epstein and Pokémon Go isn’t limited to map coordinates. Internal records reveal that the financier was not only aware of the game but fascinated by its technological potential. In an email exchange with Deepak Chopra, Epstein proposed that the health guru develop a similar AR application focused on esoteric concepts.
“I think an app for you that allows people to look at their phone and detect an aura about each other, would kill the market,” Epstein wrote. “After your return tonight up the app and imagine. wow.”
Chopra responded by noting his ongoing interest in virtual reality via the Oculus platform, while acknowledging Epstein’s suggestion. “I think it’s good but what your suggesting is beyond awesome and would require a lot of creative imagination and creative technological innovation,” Chopra replied.
This revelation is just one of many connections to the tech and gaming sectors hidden within the massive document cache. It remains a chilling footnote that a man responsible for such widespread devastation was concurrently contemplating the future of augmented reality gaming.
Source: Polygon
