'Fix our game!' Furious Pokemon Go fans offered refunds after festival plagued by technical hitches

Up to 20,000 people who attended a Pokemon Go festival in Chicago over the weekend have been offered refunds after a string of technical glitches prevented fans from playing the online game. 

John Hanke, the CEO of the game's developer Niantic Inc, was booed when he took to the stage at Chicago's Grant Park to address thousands of frustrated Pokemon enthusiasts.

The fans shouted "fix our game" and "we can't play," at the beleaguered tech boss, having spent much of the weekend failing to catch any Pokemon due to a lack of mobile internet signal. 

Some in attendance had paid as much as $400 (£300) online for the tickets, which sold out within minutes of their June release.

While no official attendance figures were available, organizers had planned for as many as 20,000 Pokemon players and "trainers" at the festival billed by Niantic as the first official anniversary event in the world.

John Haberkorn, a member of the Official Pokemon Go 40 Club, an international online community of high-level players, said he started waiting in line for the opening of the festival at 6am.

"The excitement has just been drastically minimized because of what we've experienced today," Haberkorn told the Chicago Tribune.

Late in the day, Niantic's Chief Marketing Officer Mike Quigley tried to placate irritated players by announcing that everyone who scanned a code when they entered the park would automatically receive the Legendary Pokemon Lugia, a rare and powerful creature difficult to defeat in virtual battle and prized by Pokemon enthusiasts.

Niantic says Pokemon Go has been downloaded 750 million times since it was launched. The augmented reality game that uses GPS to locate, capture, battle and train virtual creatures was introduced in the United States in July 2016.

A spokesman for Niantic said those who registered for the event would get a full refund for the $20 (£15) tickets and $100 (£76) in credits for use of the app.