How did the Pokemon Fest turn nightmarish?

first birthday went horrifically, with the company responsible for making it issuing refunds and free coins to attendees.

Niantic, which makes the app, had hoped to mark the occasion with Fest. That event was held in Chicago and was intended as a celebration for the people still playing the location-based game.

But many people who arrived couldn’t log in and the servers melted down. That left Niantic forced to issue refunds for tickets and to give out free and $100 worth of virtual currency.

Exactly a year ago, the app began its ascent to international success and a total of 750 million downloads. And not long after that, it began its rapid descent again, after being plagued by server problems and other technical issues.

The company had hoped to rekindle some of that initial success as well as celebrating the people who continue to play the game a year on. But Niantic CEO John Hanke was booed when he took the stage at Chicago’s Grant Park to address the thousands of frustrated Pokemon enthusiasts.

Some in attendance had paid as much as $400 online for the tickets, which sold out within minutes of their June release. While no official attendance figures were available, organisers had planned for as many as 20,000 players and “trainers” at the festival billed by Niantic as the first official anniversary event in the world.

Mark Haberkorn of Chi- cago, a member of the Official 40 Club, an international online community of high-level players, said he started waiting in line for the opening of the festival at 6 a.m.

“The excitement has just been drastically minimised because of what we’ve experienced today,” Haberkorn told the Chicago Tribune.

Late in the day, Niantic’s Chief Marketing Officer Mike Quigley tried to pla- cate irritated players by announcing that everyone who scanned a code when they entered the park would automatically receive the Legendary

a rare and powerful creature difficult to defeat in virtual battle and prized by enthusiasts.

Niantic says has been downloaded 750 million times since it was launched. The augmented reality game that uses GPS to locate, capture, battle and train virtual creatures was introduced in the United States in July 2016. THE INDEPENDENT

Some in attendance had paid as much as $400 online for the tickets, which sold out within minutes of their June release.