Pokemon Go Fest
When the developer of a game itself says it’s “horrified” by the result of one of its promotions, you know that one of the year’s biggest mistakes has been made. This is the case of mobile game maker Niantic and their massively popular title Pokemon Go, which held a promotion earlier this year. The resulting Pokemon Go Fest was a disaster, with participants from all around the world gathering together only to spend hours upon hours underneath the scorching sun to get very little, if anything, in return. Indeed, fans were met with widespread server issues and bugs that rendered Pokemon Go virtually unplayable for most of the festival’s duration.
Niantic tried to appease users by offering $100 of in-game currency and full refunds for anyone who purchased a $20 wristband for the event, but the damage to hardcore fans of the title was severe. A California man who traveled to the event filed a class-action lawsuit against the developer shortly after Pokemon Go Fest happened, requesting that he receive compensation for travel expenses.
