I intended to make up for the fact that the event was available to everyone as well.
Last night, Pokémon Go’s Kanto Tour bonuses – designed to compensate for the fact that the game ticket event is available to people who didn’t pay – were released and accidentally also made available to people who didn’t pay.
This last bug was fixed in a few hours – the search line and the free remote raid pass box disappeared for a while – but not before some players have access to Australia and New Zealand for free to claim the bonuses.
Writing on fan reddit TheSilphRoad, some fans expressed exasperation at this latest slip – while others simply found it hilarious.
Pokémon Go players in Australia and New Zealand are the first to encounter event-specific errors and bugs, as they are the first time zones around the world where game changes become visible. It is only after local players report these problems that they are corrected in time for the subsequent launch of each event across Europe and then America.
These countries have become unofficial test subjects for the game – which is why there is a feeling among fans that, whether or not they paid, these newer bonus items were probably deserved.
Pokémon Go developer Niantic did not publicly acknowledge his slip, and a bonus event to make up for the bonus event seems unlikely.