CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Attorney Thomas Zimmerman of the Chicago-based Zimmerman Law Offices today filed a nationwide class action lawsuit against Niantic, Inc., the developer of Pokémon GO. The suit alleges the attendees of the Pokémon GO Fest, held on July 22, 2017 in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, were not able to obtain the special Pokémon and other rewards that were advertised as being available only to those people who attended the fest.

The case, Jonathan Norton v. Niantic, Inc., was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.

The lead plaintiff, a Pokémon GO Fest attendee who traveled from California for the event, represents all persons who traveled to Grant Park to attend the Pokémon GO Fest on July 22, 2017. People came to Chicago from around the world. The lawsuit seeks monetary damages to recover their travel expenses.

Niantic advertised the Pokémon GO Fest as the one-year anniversary celebration of one of the most popular mobile games on the market, played by millions of people around the world every day. Niantic advertised that those in attendance would be able to play the game with thousands of other players and “Trainers” in one location, and that numerous special prizes, events, rewards, and exclusive “Legendary” Pokémon would be available to those in attendance.

Attendees waited in line for hours to enter the fest, missing out on scheduled programming and exclusive in-game content available only to those with paid, activated wristbands at the fest. The fest was plagued with internet connectivity issues related to overburdened cellular towers, in addition to Niantic’s own malfunctioning game server and software, rendering attendees unable to play the game.

“Fest-goers were unable to complete timed in-game challenges to collect special rewards, or collect previously unavailable or rare Pokémon. Had my client known that he would spend the majority of the event waiting in lines and unable to play the Pokémon GO game, he would have stayed in California instead of paying money to fly to Chicago to attend the fest,” Attorney Tom Zimmerman said.

A copy of the complaint is available upon request. Attorney Tom Zimmerman will be available for interviews, and the lead plaintiff may also be available to speak with the media on a limited basis.