The Daily Dot 7-28-17 (Pokemon GO Fest)

Pokémon Go Fest was so bad, attendees are planning a class action lawsuit

Gavia Baker-Whitelaw

Last updated July 28 at 3:52AM

Chicago’s Pokémon Go Fest was kind of a mess. Fans bought tickets and traveled to join an outdoor celebration of the game, but the event quickly collapsed due to technical difficulties. Players complained of nonexistent internet signals, glitches in the game, and a general air of disorganization.

So, some of them are considering taking Pokémon Go‘s parent company, Niantic, to court.

Polygon reports that “20 or 30” attendees have joined a class action lawsuit with Chicago lawyer Thomas Zimmerman. He was first contacted by Jonathan Norton, a California man who flew to Chicago for the disappointing Pokémon event. Along with several other Pokémon Go fans, Norton wants a refund for his travel costs.

Disastrous fan conventions are an unfortunately regular occurrence, and attendees rarely seem to get much compensation. Just look at the aftermath of the infamous Tumblr convention DashCon in 2014. That being said, Pokémon Go Fest was organized by a video game company that raked in a ton of cash from Pokémon Go, so they may choose to compensate their disappointed customers to avoid negative PR.

Niantic already refunded the festival’s disgruntled attendees, along with an in-game bonus worth $100. But as this lawsuit points out, that definitely doesn’t cover the travel costs and time spent by fans attending the event.