Niantic announced Saturday that it is postponing several "Pokemon Go Safari Zone" events in Europe following the Chicago "Pokemon Go Fest" that was plagued with technical issues over a week ago.
According to the "Pokemon Go" website, the company has decided to postpone the events "in order to guarantee the best possible gameplay experience for European Trainers." Events scheduled on Aug. 5 in Copenhagen and Prague are being postponed, as well as those scheduled on Aug. 12 in Stockholm and Amsterdam. These events will be moved to a later date in the fall.
The company said that no other events are being postponed, and that the Aug. 14 event in Yokohama, Japan will push through as scheduled, as well as the events in France, Spain, and Germany that are scheduled on Sept. 16.
The developer also teased that some of the Pokemon that are rarely seen in the continent will be "appearing soon in certain European cities for a brief time." As of press time, no further details have been released regarding this.
The deferment of the European events comes more than a week after the "Pokemon Go Fest," which saw many players encountering multiple technical issues with the game, prompting Niantic to issue refunds for the participants' tickets. Around 20,000 Pokemon fans gathered at Chicago's Grant Park to participate in the event, causing long lines that had participants waiting for hours before being able to enter the venue. At the event itself, cellular networks became overburdened, and the game's servers crashed, preventing players from accessing the game for almost the entire day.
After the event, attendees filed a class action lawsuit against Niantic for failing to provide participants the experience that the company had led them to expect. They are also seeking compensation for their expenses in travelling to Chicago, as many flew in from out of state in order to participate in the event.
