Full Refunds for Everyone!
The Pokemon GO Fest, the hit mobile game’s very first live event in Chicago, didn’t go all that well. In fact, one could argue it was something of a disaster. There were crazy-long lines, technical problems and a horde of pretty angry fans. Niantic has acknowledged their blunder, and has taken steps to set things right.
In an official statement made on the day of the event, Niantic expressed their regret that they “were not able to offer every attendee a great experience.” How sorry are they? For starters, everyone is getting their ticket to the event fully refunded. To sweeten the deal, attendees are also getting $100 worth of PokeCoins in their accounts sometime in the near future. The appearance of certain event-only Pokemon in Grant Park has been extended to the end of the weekend.
Finally, there is the matter of the legendary Pokemon. One of the highlights of the event was the opportunity to participate in raids with other players in order to take down (and maybe acquire) a legendary of their very own. The technical issues mentioned before made this pretty much impossible. As a way of apologizing, Niantic is just giving a Lugia to everyone who attended the event. Which seems like kind of a bitter prize. Wasn’t the fun to be found in the huge battle with all those other players? Doesn’t just getting the end reward like this feel like triage? With this first live event such a smashing success, it seems like we’ll be waiting for the second one for quite a while.