For many, Pokémon GO is so summer 2016. But at least 20,000 people are still die-hard fans of the game, as proven by their participation in Pokémon GO Fest in Chicago’s Grant Park last week.
Unfortunately, the event was a disappointment to many attendees, who could not get data service and ended up waiting on long lines without the AR-based game to keep them entertained. And beyond the cell networks having gone down, the game itself was also struggling.
Our own Greg Kumparak, a world-class trainer in his own right, went to the event, and described it like this:
Tapping a monster to catch it would result in nothing but an error screen — a particular punch in the gut to many a player who traveled far in hopes of completing their Pokedex, as the park was set to spawn some of the game’s rarest monsters. You’d tap an Unown or a Heracross (usually only available in very specific regions, and certainly not in the middle of Chicago), and the game would crash.
While Niantic has offered refunds on admission (plus $100 of in-game currency) to attendees of Pokémon GO Fest, at least one man is not satisfied.
Jonathan Norton has proposed a class-action lawsuit against Niantic for unspecified damages, saying that the festival didn’t live up to what Niantic had promised, according to Ars Technica.
While tickets only cost around $25, including fees, many folks traveled from outside of Chicago to capture the rarest Pokémon in the game and enjoy a day with their peers. Instead, many felt their investment in the Fest was wasted due to crashed servers, non-existent cell service, and long lines to simply exit the park.
You can check out the complaint below:
We reached out to Niantic and we haven’t heard back yet. We’ll update if/when we do.