Pokémon GO has always had its fair share of server issues, downtime, and other problems. The game launched back in 2016 and become such a phenomenon that players had to deal with problems for weeks, often locking them out of the game entirely. Most of those were worked out long ago, but periods of high activity often bring them back. Many feared it would happen with the worldwide event this weekend, and it seems to be coming to pass as Pokémon GO is down for many just as Pokémon GO Fest 2020 hits its stride.
UPDATE: Niantic has announced a make up event due to the issues, date to be announced later.
Issues aren’t universal between players, with some reporting problems sending and receiving gifts, battling in raids, or just loading the game at all. Personally, I just spent over twenty minutes trying to get a few friends into a Kyogre raid only for us to get locked out until he de-spawned. I have mostly been able to load the game and catch Pokémon though, which is great since I’m hunting a shiny Unown.
Fans around the world are certainly upset though, with reports flooding Twitter and various Reddit threads about the problems. In many ways Pokémon GO Fest 2020 has brought back the feeling of those early days of the game. There’s a lot of fun to be had in the game, tons of people want to join in, but the servers just won’t let them a lot of the tim. But with patience you can usually get through. And hopefully Niantic is working behind-the-scenes to get this all working smoothly again.
It’s unclear now what the long term impact of the Pokémon GO Fest 2020 issues will be. Players paid $14.99 for a ticket to the event, so if issues persist all day there will likely be calls for refunds or other compensation. Burning raid passes only to have the game go down will also lead to many support tickets. Niantic has faced worse issues before though and always offered something that led to a happy community. Could we get extra days added to the event, or other bonuses for players? Check back for more as the story develops.
