The online-only Pokémon GO Fest has just wrapped up, boasting a record-breaking number of attendees and players.
This was the first time ever the event was held completely virtually, which was because of the coronavirus lockdown.
Niantic said in a blog post it had “a record number of millions of trainers” all taking part in the event, which saw people from 124 countries and regions around the world combining their efforts and catching nearly one billion Pokémon.
People were able to join in and play during the Pokémon GO Fest over the weekend from wherever they were in the world.
Being able to play from anywhere no doubt contributed to the incredible turnout for the event, which is normally held in one contained area.
Just like in the past Pokémon GO Fests, there were daily challenges to complete and bonuses such as special Pokémon encounters to earn.
The nefarious Team GO Rocket, of course, tried their best to be evil and ruin the event for everyone, but trainers were tasked with fending them off.
Niantic reported some stats from the event, which saw trainers catch over one billion Pokémon, defeat over 58 million Team Go Rocket members and sent 55 million gifts.
Even though the event was remotely hosted, Niantic said that players also managed to walk an average of nearly 15km each.
Niantic announced that it would be using the money earned from the Fest ticket sales, which were roughly £12 each and raised a total of $10 million (£7.7 million), to help fund projects from Black augmented reality (AR) creators and companies in the United States which are working to try and rebuild local communities.
A statement from the company said: "At the beginning of June, we announced a pledge of a minimum of $5 million to fund nonprofit organizations in the U.S. that are helping local communities rebuild, in addition to funding new projects from Black gaming and AR creators that can live on the Niantic platform, with the ultimate goal of increasing content that represents a more diverse view on the world."
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