There’s a perception in the video game world that gamers aren’t ones to forgive after they have been slighted. And to be fair, there have been times where players are gun shy after certain betrayals or bad decisions. But, as long as the person who made the “mistake” is transparent, they often forgive them. Last year, the Pokemon GO Fest was one of the biggest disasters in mobile gaming history. Yet, developer Niantic was apologetic and promised to not make that mistake again. And apparently, people believed them.
Why do we say this? Because in less than one hour, Pokemon GO Fest 2018 sold out. You can’t do that if people aren’t wanting to go. What’s more, the site actually crashed a few times because of the overload of people trying to get tickets. Now, yes, there are some who bought tickets solely so they could sell them on eBay (for very high profits so far), but a majority actually want to go.
So, what’s changed since last year to make people think that this Pokemon GO Fest will go better? Well, first off, Niantic learned from last years debacle, and they’ve held several successful events all over the world since them. Including one in Japan where 2.2 million people participated without breaking the internet.
Second, this go-round, they’re not limiting people to one area. Last year they confined everyone in a concert-like setting, which was part of the reason the internet was so bad. This year though they’re taking over 1.8 miles of Chicago so that participants can walk and move around as they catch’em all.
Finally, Niantic is placing mobile hotspots along the path of the event so that no matter what happens, everyone is going to be close to an internet connection.
The event will take place on July 14th-15th.
