Pokémon Go refunding tickets, offering $100 in coins after Go Fest servers crash and burn
- jul
- 22
Cellular data and Pokémon Go server issues plague Go Fest, prompts Niantic to offer refunds on tickets, $100 in free Poké Coins to attendees.
With thousands and thousands of people at Pokémon Go Fest in Chicago — rumor has it, upwards of 20 thousand — the cellular networks and Pokémon Go's own servers have been crashing hard. That's been causing a ton of frustration for players at Grant Park who, during the live stream, began to chant "We can't play!" "We can't play!"
In response, Niantic, the game's developer, has announced it will be issuing refunds on tickets as well as giving every registered attendee $100 in Poké Coins. Emails will be sent out with more information.
They've also increased the spawn radius around the venue to 2-miles. So, if you're local to Chicago, you can hang out around Grant Park and still catch Heracross and Unown. (So get catching!)
It's a tough situation for everyone. People have come from all over the U.S. and somewhere over 10% have come internationally as well. Niantic and the cell companies, including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Spring, to their credit, seems to be doing everything they can to fix the network issues, but with the day winding on, it's unclear just how much they'll be able to do.
And that's with Legendary Raids on everyone's mind as well. All the fingers crossed.
We're live at Pokémon Go Fest so check @reneritchie for real-time updates and keep it locked to iMore for more!