UPDATE Last summer, Inside Towers reported on Niantic’s first-ever Pokémon Go Fest held in Chicago’s Grant Park, which did not meet attendee expectations. Both cellular networks and the game’s servers struggled to keep up with the intense demand of 20,000 attendees and Pokémon Go was unusable for most of the day.
Due to attendee outcry (and lawsuits), Niantic refunded ticket costs, provided $100 worth of in-game coins to attendees, and then later agreed to a $1.6 million class action settlement to reimburse travel expenses, reported Macworld.
Niantic regrouped and made what turned out to be the necessary changes for this summer’s festivities. The biggest difference this year was that all four major carriers—Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile—provided portable cell sites, allowing for uninterrupted gaming. Macworld reported that nearly every part of the experience felt like it had been designed based on feedback to the original Fest’s failings.
In addition, this year’s event was organized differently to accommodate over 21,000 gamers, spread out across a 1.8-mile route throughout Chicago’s Lincoln Park instead of clustered into a confined area. Attendees also started the day at different places—half at the north entrance and half at the south entrance of the park. The event took place over two days to prevent overloading networks.
July 18, 2018
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