It's official: Pokemon GO Fest was an unmitigated disaster. The first ever live event for Pokemon GO was plagued by long lines, poor communication between event officials, and technical issues that left the game unplayable for many attendees. Since participating in the event hinged on access to Pokemon GO, this led to some very upset trainers. Developer Niantic has recently issued an apology, along with a number of refunds and goodies, in an attempt to win back the confidence of those who slogged through the fiasco.

"Today at Pokémon GO Fest in Chicago, technical issues created problems for a large number of players attending the event," the official update read. "From everyone at Niantic, we apologize to all of the Trainers who came out to Pokémon GO Fest today. Although we were able to solve many of the technical issues, we were not able to offer every attendee a great experience."

Pokemon GO Lugia Raids release

Niantic is taking several steps to remedy the situation:

  • All registered attendees will receive a full refund for the cost of their ticket. Instructions will be sent to the email addresses associated with their Pokemon GO account.
  • Attendees will receive $100 in PokeCoins.
  • Accessibility to special Pokemon, Eggs, and PokeStops that appeared during the festival has been extended to Monday morning, July 24. The Pokemon and Eggs will only be visible to attendees who validated the QR code they received when they entered the event.
  • All attendees will have the Legendary Pokemon Lugia added to their account.

Nothing says, "I'm sorry" like a free Legendary Pokemon. That will surely help soothe the pain of those who felt burned by the event.

The Pokemon GO event was meant as a way of celebrating the arrival of Legendary Pokemon, which players have been waiting to be added to the game since launch. Lugia is the first to be added, and was first available to attendees. Trainers needed only to participate in the raid to catch one for their very own. Of course, many who attended the event couldn't access the raid at all.

They'll be getting Lugia gratis, but rest of the world will get its chance to snag a Legendary soon. Lugia raids will begin rolling out within the next 48 hours or so, according to Niantic, with the Legendary Ice/Flying-type Pokemon, Atricuno, scheduled to arrive soon after.

Pokemon GO is currently available on iOS and Android devices.