The 2026 GO Fest Global event officially concluded on July 11–12.
While the event wasn’t without its issues—including temporary server instability and problems with the Mega Mewtwo raids—it has ultimately received widespread praise from the community, with many players commending both Niantic and Scopely for delivering one of the best GO Fest experiences in recent years.
The biggest highlight was that nearly all of the core event bonuses were available for free.
In contrast, GO Fest 2025 locked most of its major bonuses behind a paid ticket, making last year’s Global GO Fest feel far less accessible. Bringing the key gameplay features back to all players this year was a significant and very welcome change.
Another standout bonus was the nine free Raid Passes available each day. At Banpo Hangang Park-Seoul, countless Trainers spent the entire weekend battling and catching Mega Mewtwo.
Despite an extreme heat warning being in effect, the turnout was incredible, and I couldn’t help but admire everyone’s enthusiasm. It even reminded me of the legendary 2018 Eevee Community Day, which many Korean remember as one of the hottest days.
As you can see from the embedded Reddit r/PokemonGO posts below, the positive reception wasn’t limited to Korea—the international community has also been overwhelmingly supportive of this year’s GO Fest.
Another aspect I really appreciated was the rotating lineup of Legendary Pokémon throughout the previous week.
It gave new and returning players a valuable opportunity to complete their Pokédex, while the weekend’s Mega Mewtwo raids allowed many Trainers to strengthen their teams by catching one of the strongest Pokémon currently available in Pokémon GO.
The increased Premier Ball catch rate was another underrated improvement. Capturing raid bosses became noticeably faster and more consistent, allowing players to complete raids more efficiently and make better use of their free Raid Passes.
I’m also hoping this isn’t quite the end and that a special finale event is still on the way. Personally, I’m looking forward to it. 🙇
