Welcome to the second of your monthly updates for what’s going on in 8 Ball Pool! Update number 1 was a huge success, and it was great to get some feedback on some of the stuff we’re working on, so we’ll get straight into the details of what we’ve been working on over the last month and what’s coming next.
Nominating pockets now live
You now have to “call” which pocket you’re going to pot the 8 Ball in.
Last week we launched “calling”/”nominating” of pockets on the 8 Ball in the Cairo tier and above, for both tournaments and 1-on-1 matches. “Calling” which pocket you’re going to pot the 8 Ball in is a common rule in real-life Pool, and thus adds an extra layer of realism to the game, as well as making the game slightly more difficult; no longer will you be able to “fluke” and pot the 8 Ball somewhere you didn’t intend to!
Those of you who follow the 8 Ball Pool Facebook page will know we ran a survey to gauge feedback on this feature before introducing it. 88.1% of respondents were in favour of introducing calling pockets, and of those in favour three quarters wanted calling pockets in both tournaments and 1-on-1 matches. Votes were split on which shots should be called, with 55.1% wanting calling shots on the 8 Ball only, and the remaining 44.9% requesting calling all shots.
On new features designed to improve the game experience, it’s great being able to get feedback before a feature is introduced, and with calling pockets we’ve been able to use that feedback to ensure the feature works as best it can. We’ve had some comments about the notification being too distracting; the current implementation has been designed to ensure colour blind players are able to use the feature, but we’ll be experimenting with some more subtle options over the next couple of weeks.
Spin & Win on mobile
Update on “Spin & Win”
Last month we introduced to you the new “Daily Spin”, which is now called “Spin & Win”. We had hoped to have the Spin & Win launched by the end of April, but the release has been pushed back to make sure the feature works as best it can.
Spin & Win is first going to be introduced to mobile, after which it’ll make its way to the web version of the game. We’re currently finishing up work on the mobile version, and it’ll be submitted to Apple and Google for review once it’s complete. As soon as it’s approved, you’ll be able to download and play!
Once the mobile version is available, we’ll start implementing Spin & Win on the web version of 8 Ball Pool.
Mobile improvements
We’re working non-stop on improving Pool on mobile!
As well as working on the Spin & Win feature, our mobile team have also been working on a series of bug fixes and improvements to the game. Bugs such as not being able to move the cue ball before break are being fixed, the stability of the servers is being improved and work is being done to make the matching of opponents more effective.
In addition, a series of anti-hack measures for the mobile game are being rolled out over the next couple of weeks. These will fix all current instances of players abusing the game and will go a long way to ensure future exploits cannot be abused.
There are a lot of behind-the-scenes changes being made, but the main noticeable difference will be if you play against someone who we detect is cheating, the player’s session will be terminated (meaning they get disconnected from the game) and you will automatically win the match.
Additional updates
We’ve been redoubling our efforts to eliminate hacking from 8 Ball Pool and continue to take the issue extremely seriously. Our banning system was recently overhauled, and work is going to ensure it works as effectively as possible across both web and mobile.
Congratulations to Kilkiju, who won our first Pool Community Challenge!
Today we released a minor update to the game which adds players’ IDs to the stats page. This will allow us to more easily identify players who have been abusing the game. We are also working on some fundamental-level changes to the game which will stop any Cheat Engine hacks from working. At this time there is no ETA of this project, but we will keep everyone updated as much as possible.
In Pool Shop news, we’re continuing to add new cues! New cues are being released every Friday, so look out for those. As requested by many, many players, we’re also going to be introducing country cues for all countries in the next couple of months.
Since the last update we held our first Community Chalenge! We invited Pool players to send in their creations, and were overwhelmed with the quantity and quality of responses. Congratulations again to Kilkiju, who was voted the winner.
And finally
To finish up this month’s update… 8 Ball Pool is now on Twitter! To keep absolutely up-to-date with the latest Pool news, updates and content, make sure you’re following @poolbyminiclip!
Let us know what you’re looking forward to in the comments! Thanks for playing 
