It’s official:Pokemon GOFest was an unmitigated disaster. The first ever live event forPokemon GOwas plagued by long lines, poor communication between event officials, andtechnical issuesthat left the game unplayable for many attendees. Since participating in the event hinged on access toPokemon GO, this led to some very upset trainers. Developer Niantic has recently issued an apology, along with a number of refunds and goodies, in an attempt to win back the confidence of those who slogged through the fiasco.
“Today at Pokémon GO Fest in Chicago, technical issues created problems for a large number of players attending the event,” theofficial updateread. “From everyone at Niantic, we apologize to all of the Trainers who came out to Pokémon GO Fest today. Although we were able to solve many of the technical issues, we were not able to offer every attendee a great experience.”
Niantic is taking several steps to remedy the situation:
Nothing says, “I’m sorry” like a free Legendary Pokemon. That will surely help soothe the pain of those who felt burned by the event.
ThePokemon GOevent was meant as a way of celebrating thearrival of Legendary Pokemon, which players have been waiting to be added to the game since launch. Lugia is the first to be added, and was first available to attendees. Trainers needed only to participate in the raid to catch one for their very own. Of course, many who attended the event couldn’t access the raid at all.
They’ll be getting Lugia gratis, but rest of the world will get its chance to snag a Legendary soon.Lugia raids will beginrolling out within the next 48 hours or so, according to Niantic, with the Legendary Ice/Flying-type Pokemon, Atricuno, scheduled to arrive soon after.
Pokemon GOis currently available on iOS and Android devices.
