Pokemon Go’s Halloween event leaves players feeling “scammed” over Rare Candy drop rate
NianticThe much-anticipated Pokemon Go Halloween event has left many players feeling “scammed” due to the Rare Candy drop rate.
Pokemon Go’s Halloween event, which took place on October 31, gave players “a chance” to gain Rare Candy or Rare Candy XL when catching costumed Pokemon.
The mere opportunity to get some additional Rare Candy or Rare Candy XL was a tempting offer for many players worldwide. Yet, the event itself proved to be incredibly lackluster and, unfortunately, misleading for some.
Keen players logged into the game at midnight, expecting to cash in on the bonus, but quickly found that the event was not active. Niantic later clarified that the event would start at 10:00 AM on the day, an important detail that was missing from earlier announcements.
Once the bonus did begin at 10:00 AM local time for players, many were confused about whether it was working as intended, with Rare Candy proving to be incredibly hard to find.
Pokemon Go content creator ZoeTwoDots shared their own experience with the event in a video aptly titled “Where’s the Bonus?” in which they reported catching 115 costumed Pokemon and receiving only one Rare Candy.
They described the drop rate as “absolutely abysmal” and questioned the point of advertising it as a bonus when the impact was so minimal.
“Why did they even bother saying it was a bonus? They literally could have just turned this on without this being a bonus again, and no one would have even noticed,” they commented.
Players on Reddit share similar vibes, with the vast majority of players reporting disappointing experiences.
One user reported catching over 60 costumed Pokemon and only receiving a single XL candy. Another shared that they had caught 400 Pokemon during the event and did not receive a single Rare Candy.
Community estimates suggest that the drop rate is seemingly close to or less than 1%, with many suggesting that the odds need to be increased significantly for it to be worthwhile.
And for those players who welcomed the intense grind and were hoping to keep on playing right up to the minute November 1 ticked over, they were left with another surprise as the event finished three hours before midnight.
In the end, it seems that players were tricked rather than treated by Niantic on Halloween.