Pokemon Go players outraged after Niantic gives Kanto Tour bonus event away free

Brad Norton
Pokemon Go Kanto Tour event

On the back of a failed Kanto Tour event in Pokemon Go, Niantic’s bonus event has also fallen short and led to widespread outrage online.

Throughout February, the Pokemon Go devs looked to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary in a meaningful way. Players were able to opt in to a premium, day-long event for $11.99. However, this spectacle left players fuming.

Trainers around the globe were able to load into the unique event without actually purchasing a ticket for entry. In order to make things up to those who felt cheated, Niantic outlined plans for a new bonus event starting on March 5.

While this was intended as an apology for players who originally paid, history quickly repeated itself. Select Trainers were able to make it into the bonus event for free, completely defeating the purpose.

The announcement came through a March 4 blog post that outlined how only “paid ticket holders will be able to participate in [the] bonus event. Mere hours later and the community soon realized that wasn’t quite the case.

“I thought it’s for ticket holders only,” Reddit user ‘OgS314’ questioned, confused as to how they’d entered the event. “[New Zealand] player here and didn’t buy the ticket but received it free from the previous error.”

“I’m looking forward to the inevitable makeup makeup event, closely followed by the makeup makeup makeup event,” another player amusingly responded.

Even with others gaining access, those that paid for the original event still feel as though they haven’t made their money’s worth.

“I didn’t buy the ticket to get a few items. I bought the ticket to enjoy an event,” ‘Bladtez’ said on Twitter.

Niantic is yet to respond to the backlash at the time of writing. Only time will tell if yet another bonus event will soon follow to make up for mistakes. Regardless, if you hop on Pokemon Go anytime soon, you could have access to the latest rewards without having to pay.

By completing event-exclusive Timed Research, you’ll have access to everything from 100 Mew Candy to a Star Piece and plenty more.

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About The Author

Brad Norton is the Australian Managing Editor at Dexerto. He graduated from Swinburne University with a Bachelor’s degree in journalism and has been working full-time in the field for the past six years at the likes of Gamurs Group and now Dexerto. He loves all things single-player gaming (with Uncharted a personal favorite) but has a history on the competitive side having previously run Oceanic esports org Mindfreak. You can contact Brad at brad.norton@dexerto.com