We told you so.

Pokemon Go developer Niantic isn't a big fan of the third-party sites that allow players to see all the little creatures around them. We understand why players think they're fair game to use, though: Niantic did disable the game's "how far other Pokemon are away from you" feature recently, which makes it even harder to hunt down that special Pokemon you see on your in-game not-radar.

"Yeah, I don't really like that. Not a fan. We have priorities right now but they might find in the future that those things may not work. People are only hurting themselves because it takes some fun out of the game. People are hacking around trying to take data out of our system and that's against our terms of service," Niantic Labs CEO John Hanke recently told Forbes.

Today, it seems as if some of the major third-party Pokemon-tracking sites are having a bit of trouble. As of this article's writing, Pokevision is completely down. If you go to the site, you'll see a warning that its "services are currently unavailable," and that you should consult the site's official Twitter feed for updates. The picture is even more grim over there.

Hey guys. We wish we had some news for you



At this moment, we are respecting Niantic and Nintendo's wishes.



Will keep you guys posted



<3 — Pokevision (@PokeVisionGo) July 31, 2016

For those unaware, Pokevision was one of the best sites to bolster one's Pokemon hunting, as it allowed you to see exactly which Pokemon were around you (or in any given location) and for how long they were likely going to be there before disappearing. It was incredibly useful if you were trying to track down a certain kind of Pokemon and didn't want to waste your entire day sitting around a park.

@Inmaniac I promise you 100% we kept it up as long as reasonably possible.



Maybe things will change in the next few days - let's hope. — Pokevision (@PokeVisionGo) July 31, 2016

As Kotaku reports, similar sites have also been created for Niantic's other big world-driven game, Ingress. However, their existence was apparently a big burden for Niantic's servers, and ultimately made the gameplay experience worse for those just trying to play without external help. It's possible that this is the reason why Niantic is allegedly starting to send out cease-and-desist letters to other third-party Pokemon tracking sites. Niantic could also be trying to preserve the Pokemon Go experience for all—though they certainly haven't made it easy to track Pokemon yourself.

And if this move, or Niantic's recent update that disabled Pokemon tracking causes you great grief, you could always try filing for a refund for any in-app payments you've recently made.

For more, check out Pokemon Go: How to Get Started and Catch 'Em All.

Further Reading