If you were somewhat surprised at the relatively light amount of content to come out of Pokemon GO‘s Anniversary Event, you probably don’t want to start criticizing Niantic’s latest efforts just yet – something special and ambitious lies on the horizon.
To coincide with next week’s Pokemon GO Fest in Chicago’s Grant Park, Niantic will be triggering a global event for the augmented reality title that sees every player the world over required to work together for a common cause. Split into three separate phases, the first will require those attending the festival to catch ‘Mons in and around the park, which will, in turn, provide various boosts for Trainers around the globe. These buffs range from increased experience to more frequent encounter rates and are tied to the different elements.
Non-attendees will need to respond in kind by catching any and all Pokemon they come across in the wild, which will be counted towards a running total. Should enough be caught, the second phase, a mystery challenge, will begin, although Niantic’s keeping the details on that tightly under wraps for now.
Finally, should everything go according to plan and the mystery event completed, a “major global reward” will be unlocked for all players. We, of course, have no idea what exactly that reward will be, but it could well have something to do with the long-awaited arrival of legendary Pokemon. An ad spotted yesterday on the Indian version of Apple’s App Store certainly seems to suggest that they’ll be arriving imminently, but we’ll ultimately just have to wait and see.
Pokemon GO Fest begins July 22, but even if you’re not attending, your services as a Trainer will certainly be required. Check out the image below for everything you need to know about the upcoming challenge.
