Video: Millennium Park Was Packed With Disgruntled Pokemon Go Fans This Weekend
By Rachel Cromidas in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 23, 2017 5:37AM
It did not look like this.
(Photo via the Pokémon GO Facebook page)
Thousands of Pokemon Go fans (Remember that game?) descended on Millennium Park Saturday afternoon for an interactive fest devoted to the cell phone game. But, as often happens when hundreds of people gather in a park all at once for a fest... some cellular service outages made it pretty much impossible for them to play.
A few hours into the start of the festival, which was projected to draw as many as 20,000 fans of the popular cell phone game, the game was declared a failure, with many attendees chanting "we can't play" as organizers rushed to try to fix issues with the game. Organizers apologized and offered refunds to attendees shortly after:
Chanting 'WE CAN'T PLAY!' #PoKemonGoFest pic.twitter.com/NBGjhINfc4
— Maria MsDBZbabe (@MsDBZbabe) July 22, 2017
"Obviously today has not gone as planned," a spokesman for Niantic, the company that created the game, told the Tribune and other news publications. "It has been a really unfortunate situation." Niantic announced that the fest would refund the $20 price of tickets and offer $100 of in-game playing credits to people who came out to play.
The game itself, which allows users to catch virtual Pokemon characters by interacting with their environment, exploded in popularity last summer shortly after its roll out. At the Chicago Pokemon Go Fest, organizers had promised that attendees would be able to "unlock" a special Pokemon character within the game.
Besides the rampant connectivity issues, players had even more to complain about, particularly the long lines required to even get into the park:
The line to get into #PokemonGOFest #GrantPark #PokemonGO pic.twitter.com/nK4jJzahTR
— El Jonyboi (@jonyboi55) July 22, 2017
#PokemonGoFest #Niantic #PokemonGO
— mav3r1ck (@Mav_r1k) July 22, 2017
why are there no pokémon to catch in this 3 mile line. come on guys
The #PokemonGO Fest line is inching like a Magikarp but the view is ballin'! pic.twitter.com/GiV5T6Jr4t
— Trilbe Wynne (@trilbe) July 22, 2017
Early entry line for Pokemon Go Fest starts at Jackson/Columbus, wraps around block to LSD. #PokemonGOFest pic.twitter.com/khZFiGCvrC
— John O'Neill (@jrichardoneill) July 22, 2017
[H/T Kotaku]