Sat, Apr 01, 2023
Newsweek
Gaming

'Pokémon Go' Fest Returns to Chicago in 2018

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Gaming Pokemon Pokemon Go Niantic Chicago

Last summer, Niantic and The Pokémon Company announced its first series of live events where Pokémon Go players got together and competed for exclusive in-game prizes, and those same events will return in 2018.

Pokémon Go will host events in North America, Europe and Asia during June and July, including the return of Pokémon Go Fest in Chicago. Pokémon GO Fest 2018: A Walk in the Park will offer a daylong immersive play experience for Trainers. The event will be held in Chicago's Lincoln Park, with a 1.8-mile walking course that has exclusive activities for Trainers of all ages.

Single-day passes go on sale on May 11 for $20 on the Pokémon Go event website. The website will have details on hotel accommodations so watch out for updates.

Last year's event event suffered notoriously bad connection issues, which resulted in refunds and even a lawsuit. Niantic CEO John Hanke acknowledged the difficulties of pulling off an event like Pokémon Go Fest.

"Go Fest was a challenge for us, there's no doubt," Hanke told IGN. "As the person who stood up on stage and directly faced the consequences of having the technical challenges, nobody felt it more strongly than I did. Particularly with all of you in the press there to witness that with us, and all of my board members, all of our partners…It was one of the most challenging days of my professional career."

However, Hanke believes that they learned from the problems with Pokémon Go Fest and they used the events in Japan (happening the same week as Chicago) to figure out some fixes.

"We made some changes to the way we plan the event, Hanke said. "We organized it so that everybody wasn't concentrated in the same place all the time, and, you know, we made it. There were some close calls that week. There were some times when the network slowed down, but it never went offline, and it was a huge success."

What do you think of Pokémon Go Fest returning this year? Do you believe Niantic will have a better show? Let us know in the comments section below.

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