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TechCrunch: Niantic Settles Pokémon GO Fest Lawsuit

The TechCrunch website reported on March 31 that Niantic is settling a class-action lawsuit brought against the company seeking monetary damages to recover travel expenses for Niantic's Pokémon GO Fest event last July.

According to TechCrunch's article, Niantic will earmark US$1,575,000 to reimburse airfare, hotel costs, parking fees, and other costs that attendees might have accrued when attending the event. Niantic has already offered to refund all ticket costs for attendees, and offered attendees US$100 in in-game currency.

TechCrunch's report noted that Niantic will launch a website for the settlement by May 25, and the company will also send an email to attendees to notify them of the website's launch. The report further noted that those who will claim reimbursement as part of the settlement will need to have checked in to the event through the game, and those who claim more than US$107 will need to present receipts.

Any remaining money after all claims have been processed will be split evenly as donations to the Illinois Bar foundation and the non-profit organization Chicago Run.

Niantic held the event for its Pokémon GO game at Grant Park in Chicago on July 22. The event was hampered by cellular network issues that prevented many attendees from participating in the day's activities. Niantic clarified during the event that the root cause for the issues was related to the game's servers, as well as local cellular networks' inability to handle the number of participants. Niantic offered refunds for the price of admission, PokéCoins worth US$100, and the Lugia Pokémon.

The Pokémon GO app launched in select countries including the United States in July 2016.

Source: TechCrunch (Greg Kumparak) via Hachima Kikō