Posted in: Games, Mobile Games, Niantic, Pokémon GO | Tagged: Niantic, pokemon, pokemon go, safari zone, Safari Zone Philadelphia

Niantic Comments On Pokémon GO In-Person Events In United States

Niantic, who officially announced an abrupt end to the mobile game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite earlier today, have shared their thoughts regarding in-person Pokémon GO events happening in the United States. They hosted their first post-lockdown in-person event for the country this weekend with Pokémon GO Safari Zone Philadelphia. This was not a new event open to the mass public but rather a make-up event that was only open to those who registered for it back in early 2020.

Niantic announced:

Safari Zone Philadelphia took place this past weekend in Fairmount Park, the first major real-world Pokémon GO event in the United States since 2019. Tens of thousands of Trainers around the world participated in the event and walked a combined 260,000 km and caught nearly 4.5 million Pokémon. Trainers took to Fairmount Park to encounter a variety of red, white, and blue Pokémon — an homage to Philadelphia's rich history — such as Alolan Sandshrew and Voltorb. Rufflet surprised Trainers in GO Snapshot while Unown A, D, E, H, I, L, and P all made special appearances. Trainers also got their hands on Pokémon and Niantic merch, such as a Safari Zone T-shirt that also provides an identical in-game avatar T-shirt. For additional information, please visit the recap.

Personally, I'm excited for new events to come to Pokémon GO. I was planning on attending three different 2020 Safari Zones before Tom Hanks made COVID-19 a reality for the world. In my opinion, these make-up events were a double-edged sword. In-person events again? Amazing. Love to see it! On the other hand, Niantic already gave us these make-ups as remote events at home back in 2020 and then added nothing new to the 2021 version. This cut out the need for players to go in person, and players who bought the tickets were also annoyed to see that the event took over their phones without a way to opt-out during the final weekend of Pokémon GO's Halloween 2021 event. I'm thinking that it must have been a legal obligation for Niantic to carry out these make-ups, which is understandable if so. I'm personally looking forward to seeing them bring actual new content to live events in 2021.

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