A few months ago, I thought 2020 might be the end of Pokémon Go. Here was this thing millions use as daily motivation to exercise, see friends, feel rewarded for playing, and all of it was suddenly impossible. Socialising and many in-game activities like raids and trading were out of the question. Events were cancelled or indefinitely postponed. A lot of people felt they could no longer play. I remember thinking, even when things did start to get better, if this game could ever fully recover.
Turns out, people still really love playing Pokémon Go. A few months later, more than a million players bought a £15 ticket to this weekend's Go Fest 2020, which offered 20 hours of special bonuses and new creatures to catch. Obviously, things have started to improve in some parts of the world, but Pokémon Go's ability to ride out 2020 has been helped hugely by developer Niantic's numerous additions to make it far more accessible, wherever you might be playing.
So yes, Go Fest 2020 was different to Pokémon Go's usual summer festivities. Instead of hundreds of thousands of people descending on a few key cities worldwide, the event was opened up to everyone. Instead of a specific park with themed areas where you could encounter specific creature types, the game rotated its menageries of monsters on a hourly schedule. And instead of flying a physical hot air balloon overhead to signal the impending arrival of Team Rocket, the game's skybox was instead filled with virtual balloons piloted by the villains - and then celebratory fireworks once all was said and done.