Pokémon Go offers refunds for Los Angeles event following wildfires

Pokémon Go developer Niantic has said it will offer a full refund to players with tickets to a major in-person event later this month in Los Angeles, following the city’s devastating wildfires, should they no longer be unable or wish to go.

Players who have paid for the event’s $30 entry fee have the option to refund their ticket via in-app support at any time up until the event on 23rd February, Niantic has said.

Pokémon Go Tour: Unova – Los Angeles is otherwise set to continue as planned, with an in-person experience at the Rose Bowl Stadium and Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena, and citywide gameplay across Los Angeles and Orange County.

“Our team has been watching the situation in Los Angeles, prioritising the safety and well-being of Pasadena, the greater Los Angeles area, and our Pokémon Go community,” Niantic said in a statement.

“In partnership with the Rose Bowl Operating Company and local authorities, we have made the decision to continue holding the in Pokémon Go Tour: Unova – Los Angeles experience.”

The event is set to feature a major in-person meet-up and sneak peek at gameplay set to debut globally when Pokémon Go Tour: Unova rolls out worldwide on the weekend of 1st and 2nd March. This includes the debut of Black Kyurem and White Kyurem, and the Shiny version of Mythical creature Meloetta.

This year’s wildfires in the Los Angeles area have claimed the lives of at least 27 people and destroyed more than 18,000 structures, leaving whole neighbourhoods ruined. Numerous video game and entertainment companies have donated to relief efforts over the past month.

Treyarch co-founder Peter Akemann – who more recently served as president of Skydance Interactive – has pleaded guilty to flying the drone that crashed into, and grounded, a firefighting plane assisting in the efforts to control the wildfires. He now faces up to a year in prison.