Photo from Pokémon GO Fest 2017 in Chicago

Pokémon GO Fest

2017eventclassic

Published September 22, 2026

Pokémon GO Fest was Niantic's July 22, 2017 outdoor event in Chicago's Grant Park that fell apart when network congestion and a game bug stopped most paid attendees from logging in. CEO John Hanke was booed on stage as the company scrambled to hand out full refunds and $100 in PokéCoins, turning the day into internet shorthand for a live gaming activation collapsing under its own infrastructure.

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Overview

Pokémon GO Fest is remembered online for the sight of a paid crowd unable to load the app they had traveled to Chicago to play, with attendees booing Niantic executives and chanting 'we can't play' during the live stage show3. The event became internet shorthand for a hyped live gaming activation breaking under its own load, and news outlets openly compared it to Fyre Festival in coverage that ran for days after4. The reaction was hostile enough that Niantic announced a full-refund and in-game reparations package the same afternoon the servers failed1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Real-life event / YouTube (viral spread)
Date
2017

Nintendo and Niantic announced Pokémon GO Fest in June 2017 as the first live, sponsored event tied to the mobile hit, scheduled for Chicago's Grant Park on July 22, 20172. Tickets went on sale for $20 apiece and sold out in roughly 15 minutes, with resale listings on eBay quickly climbing to $800 for a single ticket and up to $1,250 for pairs2. When the day arrived, network congestion at the venue blocked most attendees from logging in, and a separate software bug caused repeated crashes even for the players who did connect4.

How It Spread

During the live stage show, CEO John Hanke was booed each time he appeared, with attendees loudly demanding that Niantic 'fix the game'1. CMO Mike Quigley then announced from the same stage that every registered attendee would get a full ticket refund plus $100 worth of PokéCoins delivered by email later, an unusually large in-game handout for a paid live event1. Niantic also expanded the rare Pokémon spawn radius from Grant Park out into downtown Chicago for 24 hours, giving checked-in attendees a chance to hunt the featured monsters after leaving the venue1.

Video from the crowd spread quickly online. YouTuber bobvids posted a montage of the booing and 'we can't play' chants captured throughout the day3, and Redditor SarcasticPyro submitted the video to r/videos the following day, where it drew over 800 upvotes and more than 200 comments4. In the days after the event, Polygon, BBC, USA Today, Kotaku and Forbes each ran postmortems, with Forbes framing the day as coming close to becoming 'gaming's Fyre Festival'4.

Timeline

2017-06

Nintendo and Niantic announce Pokémon GO Fest as the first live, sponsored Pokémon GO event, scheduled for Chicago's Grant Park on July 22.

2017-06-19

Tickets go on sale at $20 apiece and sell out in about 15 minutes; scalpers list them on eBay for as much as $800 per single ticket.

2017-07-22

The event runs at Grant Park in Chicago. Network congestion and a game bug prevent most attendees from connecting; John Hanke is booed on stage.

2017-07-22

Niantic CMO Mike Quigley announces full ticket refunds plus $100 in PokéCoins for every registered attendee, and extends the rare Pokémon spawn zone into downtown Chicago for 24 hours.

2017-07-23

YouTuber bobvids's montage of the booing crowd is submitted to r/videos by SarcasticPyro, gathering over 800 upvotes.

2017-07-24

Polygon, BBC, USA Today, Kotaku and Forbes publish postmortems; Forbes compares the event to Fyre Festival.

How to Use This Meme

'Pokémon GO Fest' is typically invoked as a comparison whenever a hyped live gaming activation or launch collapses on server issues, often paired with references to Fyre Festival or clips of the Grant Park crowd chanting 'we can't play.'

Frequently Asked Questions