Pokemon Go Settles Lawsuit Over Disastrous Pokemon Go Fest

Pokemon Go will pay over $1.6 million to players who attended last summer's disastrous Pokemon Go [...]

By Christian Hoffer

Pokemon Go will pay over $1.6 million to players who attended last summer's disastrous Pokemon Go Fest event.

TechCrunch is reporting that Niantic Labs has settled a class action lawsuit involving players upset over last summer's Pokemon Go Fest. The event was billed as Pokemon Go's first ever live event and sold out in minutes. However, players who attended the event reported widespread cellular and network issues, an overwhelmed server, and hours long lines just to get into the event.

By the end of Pokemon Go Fest, Niantic announced that they would refund everyone's tickets, gave out $100 in in-game currency and gave out free Legendary Pokemon to anyone who attended the event. However, some players still wanted more from Niantic, noting that they incurred travel and hotel costs to travel from other states to Chicago.

To settle claims from unhappy attendees, Niantic will post a new website offering to reimburse players for their costs. In order to qualify, players will have needed to register at Pokemon Go Fest through the game (to prevent those players who sold their tickets from profiting from the lawsuit.) Once a player's attendance is confirmed, they can register to reimburse their costs. Anyone who claims more than $107 in expenses related to the event will need to provide receipts.

Niantic will donate any money left over after all claims have been settled to the Illinois Bar Association and the nonprofit Chicago Run organization.

Although Pokemon Go Fest was a giant black eye for the game, it did lead to some major positive changes. Not only did Pokemon Go Fest mark the start of the game's new raid feature, it also led to several subsequent live events that were much more popular. Pokemon Go held a series of Safari Zone events in Europe without incident and also held a major Pokemon Go Stadium event in Japan that summer.

Niantic is also planning more live Pokemon Go events. Speaking at a conference in Germany last week, two Niantic employees noted that there were plans to hold a major event in Dortmund later that year.

Do you think $1.5 million is enough of a settlement? Or do you think that's too much money for players that attended the event? Let us know in the comment section!

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