Pokemon Go Postpones St. Louis Safari Zone Event Due to Coronavirus

Pokemon Go has cancelled its first US event due to concerns over COVID-19. Earlier today, Niantic announced that its Safari Zone St. Louis Event, which was to take place on March 27-29 has been postponed. Niantic announced that they were looking into alternative dates within the next 12 months and would provide an update about rescheduling the event as soon as possible. Ticket holders can choose to request a refund before March 25th or retain their ticket. Those that keep their ticket will be able to participate in the Safari Zone Pokemon encounters and Special Research globally during the originally scheduled event hours.

As of this time, Pokemon Go's other Safari Zone events in Liverpool and Philadelphia are still scheduled to occur, but Niantic will continue to monitor the situation in early April.

As Niantic is continuing to monitor COVID-19 and shift its events as a result, Pokemon Go will feature Legendary Raid Encounters to the GO Battle League to give players extra opportunities to catch Pokemon that would usually be exclusive to Raid Battles. Thundurus, Darkrai, and Lugia will all appear as potential rewards for participating in the GO Battle League during the month of March. Pokemon Go has cancelled Raid and Community Day events in countries like South Korea and Italy where COVID-19 virus outbreaks has occurred.

As public health officials continue to monitor the spread of COVID-19, more and more public events are being cancelled. Last week, events ranging from SXSW to Emerald City Comic Con were cancelled because of health concerns. The Pokemon Company has also cancelled several public events due to the coronavirus.