Until recently, Little Saint James–the private island formerly owned by convicted sex criminal and alleged human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein–had a Pokemon Go Pokestop. But following an outcry among players, the Epstein Island Pokestop has been removed by Pokemon Go owner Scopely.
According to Polygon, it’s unclear when the Pokestop was added to the island, although Ingress estimates that it was somewhere between 2020 and 2021. Epstein died in prison in 2019, and the island isn’t easily accessible to the general public. That hasn’t stopped players from fooling the game and letting Pokemon Go virtually place them on the island.
Per Kotaku, the number of virtual Pokemon Go visits to Little Saint James dramatically increased this month as a way to draw attention to the Pokestop that was originally noticed well over a year ago. The release of a new round of Epstein files appears to have spurred that surge, until Scopely quietly removed the Pokestop earlier this week.
There were a number of gaming connections in the Epstein files, including apparent plans by Epstein to purchase stock in Activision Blizzard because of Call of Duty’s continued success. Epstein and former Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick had multiple email exchanges in the files, including an invitation for Kotick to visit the island.
Other gaming luminaries mentioned or referred to in the Epstein files include Build A Rocket Boy studio founder Leslie Benzies and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Their presence in the files isn’t proof of any criminal activity, and Benzies and Gates have both vehemently denied any connection to Epstein at all. Benzies added that he never met Epstein.