Pokemon Go events delayed in Europe after Fest disaster in Chicago

Both Pokemon Go players and developer Niantic Labs suffered a huge disappointment last weekend when the real-world Pokemon Go Fest event turned into a disaster. Held in Chicago, the event was designed to be a celebration of the game and its community on its one-year anniversary, but severe technical issues including overloaded servers and cellular network congestion left players unable to login and participate.

In the aftermath of the incident, which has seen Niantic attempt to make amends, extend the event, and even threats of a lawsuit, the developer has announced its delaying several European events in order to prevent a repeat of what happened in Chicago.

Two sets of similar Pokemon Go events were originally scheduled to take place in Copenhagen and Prague (August 5), and Stockholm and Amsterdam (August 12), but these will now take place on later dates sometime this fall. As a way of apologizing to European players affected by these delays, Niantic says that several Pokemon "rarely seen in Europe" will start appearing in a number of cities in the region.

The Pokemon Go event scheduled for August 14th in Yokohama, Japan, and events in France, Germany, and Spain taking place on September 16th will still be held on their respective dates, fortunately.

SOURCE Niantic Labs