Some Pokemon Go Fest Attendees Are Filing A Lawsuit Against Niantic

It was such a mess that a few dozen players have filed a class action lawsuit against Niantic, alleging false advertising.

Zimmerman explained that the suit was filed because numerous event's attendees "were not able to obtain the special Pokemon and other rewards that were advertised as being available only to those people who attended the fest". However, he and several thousand others found they were unable to play the game at all during the event. For many, though, it didn't quite work out that way. While the developer is certainly making up for the faux pas with a free Lugia and $100 in Poké Coins for festival attendees along with refunding the $10 ticket fee, not everyone is accepting Niantic's apology.

The event was plagued by internet connection problems that prevented many attendees from playing the game at all.

Zimmerman notes that the claimants are not specifically asking for relief for being unable to get the rare Pokemon.

After the "Pokemon Go" event, players were able to play the game as they moved to surrounding areas of the venue, where cellular networks were not as overloaded.

Norton began the lawsuit to get his plane tickets refunded.

While Niantic did offer in-game compensation to attendees for GO not working properly during the festival and extended the amount of time rare Pokémon could be caught in Chicago, the company has yet to offer to pay for travel expenses for anyone who made a cross-country or even worldwide journey. "Most of the people came from out of state, many people from other countries - I talked to someone who flew in from Japan", Zimmerman told Polygon.

Contacted by Polygon, Niantic said it did not comment on "pending legal matters".