It’s almost time for this year’s Pokemon GO Fest, which of course is all online due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. But while the event doesn’t start until the weekend, a little lead-in event Niantic ran for funsies ended up causing some upset in the community. Niantic has been dropping clues for the Pokemon GO Fest 2020 puzzle all week, and the code was finally cracked last night after a ton of effort from the community. But the hype ended pretty fast afterwards, and here’s why:
Here’s an exercise to keep your minds nimble before #PokemonGOFest2020. 2 times a day between July 16 – 22 we’ll be posting clues to a puzzle. If you’re in the top few to solve it you’ll get some sweet items to help you with GO Fest! 🔍 T&C apply: https://t.co/f8RbCEVYSj pic.twitter.com/85xyAAe9U6
— Niantic, Inc. (@NianticLabs) July 16, 2020
As you can see, when Niantic announced the puzzle originally, it included the choice language noting only the “top few” puzzle-solvers would benefit from the code. That’s pretty vague, and it seems like most of the folks collaborating on cracking the code kinds got their hopes up. Tragically, a full week of Pokemon GO detective work later, almost nobody was able to redeem the code. In fact, what the code actually gave was an additional mystery until someone who managed to get it dropped some evidence.
Related: Pokemon GO Fest 2020 Weekly Challenge Schedule
After that, Niantic dropped a second code, a consolation prize of sorts for everyone else. But since “everyone else” ended up meaning “almost everyone,” the much less useful consolation prize seemed to only rub salt in this particular wound. Niantic hasn’t responded to this little controversy yet, but all you need to do is check the Twitter feed to see the noticeably higher engagement numbers on the relevant tweets. Folks aren’t pleased, to say the least.
You Trainers are fast! Thanks or participating, the puzzle has been solved! As a bonus for playing this week, we’re giving you this bonus code (redeemable through July 27 at 1700 UTC) to help you with your #PokemonGOFest2020
Code: 5PTHMZ3AZM5QC
Redeem: https://t.co/b5FZPOlFKA pic.twitter.com/hpRRlG1Zne— Niantic, Inc. (@NianticLabs) July 22, 2020
That said, it seems like the Pokemon GO fanbase is still excited for this weekend’s festivities, even with the Pokemon GO Fest 2020 puzzle drama floating over it. It seems like the rewards for the initial code only added up to about five bucks’ worth of items, so despite the hype deflation making it feel bad for everyone who worked to help solve the puzzle, it will likely blow over once the real event gets going.
What do you all think about this event? Is it a big deal that Niantic should have been more explicit about, or is the matter being blown out of proportion? Let us know what you think on the Twitter and Facebook feeds.
