Pokemon Go festival to celebrate one year of game goes terribly, as developer Niantic forced to issue refunds

The man in charge of the game was booed as he attempted to speak to trainers

People walk with their mobile phones as some play Pokemon GO at La Punta beach in Callao, Peru (REUTERS/Mariana Bazo)

Pokemon Go's first birthday went horrifically, with the company responsible for making it issuing refunds and free coins to attendees.

Niantic, which makes the app, had hoped to mark the occasion with Pokemon Go Fest. That event was held in Chicago and was intended as a celebration for the people still playing the location-based game.

But many people who arrived couldn't log in and the servers melted down. That left Niantic forced to issue refunds for tickets and to give out free Pokemon and $100 worth of virtual currency.

Exactly a year ago, the app began its ascent to international success and a total of 750 million downloads. And not long after that, it began its rapid descent again, after being plagued by server problems and other technical issues.

The company had hoped to rekindle some of that initial success as well as celebrating the people who continue to play the game a year on. But Niantic CEO John Hanke was booed when he took the stage at Chicago's Grant Park to address the thousands of frustrated Pokemon enthusiasts.

Some in attendance had paid as much as $400 online for the tickets, which sold out within minutes of their June release. While no official attendance figures were available, organisers had planned for as many as 20,000 Pokemon players and "trainers" at the festival billed by Niantic as the first official anniversary event in the world.

Mark Haberkorn of Chicago, a member of the Official Pokemon Go 40 Club, an international online community of high-level players, said he started waiting in line for the opening of the festival at 6 a.m.

"The excitement has just been drastically minimised because of what we've experienced today," Haberkorn told the Chicago Tribune.

Late in the day, Niantic's Chief Marketing Officer Mike Quigley tried to placate irritated players by announcing that everyone who scanned a code when they entered the park would automatically receive the Legendary Pokemon Lugia, a rare and powerful creature difficult to defeat in virtual battle and prized by Pokemon enthusiasts.

Niantic says Pokemon Go has been downloaded 750 million times since it was launched. The augmented reality game that uses GPS to locate, capture, battle and train virtual creatures was introduced in the United States in July 2016.

Additional reporting by Associated Press