Some Pokemon GO fans who attended the Chicago festival last weekend apparently plan on suing Niantic following the disappointing experience. Pokemon GO launched last year and quickly turned into a global phenomenon, but the developer had its fair share of headaches with the technical aspects of the game. Shortly after the title was launched, Niantic found itself in some legal trouble because some Pokemon GO players would trespass on private properties in search for pocket monsters. Niantic is now in hot water again, but this time it’s facing a class action suit over the rst Pokémon GO Fest (https://www.androidheadlines.com/2017/07/busy-networks-bust-pokemon-go- fest-making-game-unplayable.html) that took place last weekend. Nearly two dozen attendees are suing the developer because they spent money to be at the festival but claim that Niantic didn’t deliver on its promises.

Pokemon GO Fest attendees were promised a number of perks, including the chance to catch rare pocket monsters. The festival ended in a asco of sorts as busy networks made the game unplayable. California-based Jonathan Norton traveled to Chicago speci cally for the Pokemon GO Fest, spending money on a plane ticket and waiting in line for the festival for hours. Since the event did not go as planned and the game didn’t work due to overloaded networks, Norton contacted Thomas Zimmerman, a local attorney, seeking to get Niantic to reimburse his travel expenses. Zimmerman said that “20 or 30” more people in the same situation have since joined the lawsuit that hence adopted a class action nature, opting to sue Niantic because the developer failed to provide them with the promised experience.

Niantic, for its part, apologized last week for how the festival unfolded, admitting that it did not go as it should have. The company tried to make amends by reimbursing attendees for the tickets and giving them $100 of in-game credit, along with the promised legendary Pokemon (Lugia) they were unable to capture at the festival. Norton and other disgruntled Pokemon GO Fest attendees still nd this insu cient, arguing that they spent much more to be at the event. Zimmerman says the people are simply seeking to get their travel expenses reimbursed, since they went to Chicago and they didn’t get what they expected, and their expenses were higher than what Niantic reimbursed. Some Pokemon GO Fest attendees traveled from out of state for the festival, and some even traveled from other countries, including Japan.