Pokémon Go is nearing its one-year anniversary and to celebrate, developer Niantic has announced that it’s bringing the Safari Zone to the augmented reality mobile title. This one won’t have you throwing rocks at Pokémon though, but instead working together with all players of all teams around the world to unlock special events and bonuses for all players to enjoy.
Although a massive cultural phenomenon when it was released and a continually strong earner since then, Pokémon Go has drawn a number of complaints for not having many of the multiplayer features of its RPG inspiration. Niantic has gone to some effort to address that over the past few months and Pokémon Go Fest and the Safari Zone events are going one step further in this effort to bring players together.
Beginning in Chicago’s Grant Park on July 22, trainers within the park will be challenged to catch certain types of Pokémon to unlock perks which affect every player around the world. Catching lots of fire Pokémon will lead to increased candy rewards, while electric Pokémon will reduce the distance required for eggs to hatch.
Trainers around the world can contribute to this effort, though their catches will instead lengthen the duration of the bonus by additional margins. Better yet, should they catch enough to reach the gold level, it will unlock a new “mystery challenge” in Grant Park. And if the trainers there complete it, it will lead to a global reward for all trainers everywhere.
This event is just one of many that Niantic has planned for the next couple of months. Running alongside Pokémon Go Fest in Chicago is the Big Heritage Festival taking place in Chester, England. Anyone visiting the festival or the town over the weekend of July 22 will find a number of unique Pokémon Go bonuses and events to join.
These events will be followed by a number of Safari Zone events at different Unibail-Rodamco shopping centers around Europe through August and September, where trainers will have a chance to catch special Pokémon, including a number never before made available in the EU region.
Closing out this summer of Pokémon Go events is a Pikachu Outbreak in Yokohama, Japan to take place between August 9 and 15, though what that entails remains to be seen.
