Pokémon GO had one of its paid events in Las Vegas ruined by a legion of angry fans. Despite developer Niantic stating that only those who paid for the event could participate, regular players came in droves to ruin everything.
According to Eurogamer, the Pokémon GO Tour: Hoenn event took place in Sunset Park Las Vegas, running from Feb. 18 to Feb. 19. Only those who purchased the event pass for $25 before the New Year and $30 afterwards were allowed to take part in this.
However, Sunset Park is a public space, so over 17,000 regular Pokémon GO players went there and ruined the paid event for everyone. The huge surge in players disrupted the game’s network, making it unplayable to all, even those who paid for this event.
Naturally, many players were upset, particularly the ones who paid for the Hoenn event in the first place. The developers acknowledged this situation on Twitter, politely asking normal players to not show up for the event’s next day. Unfortunately, even with the warning, the network was said to have been bad the whole weekend.
Long time fans won’t be surprised to know that this isn’t the first time a Pokémon GO event was botched. The first Pokémon GO Fest in 2017 also left many players frustrated over internet issues and that didn’t even have paid passes. Other events have gone smoothly since but this isn’t the first time something like this happened.
It’s also worth noting that many fans have been frustrated with the current direction of the game. While it was always a free-to-play game with microtransactions, recent events have made it feel like a pay-to-play app. Restricting the Hoenn event to only include players who paid for a pass doesn’t help things.
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Pokémon GO is readily available on iOS and Android devices. Despite various complaints, the game continues to make a ton of money for Niantic and The Pokémon Company.