Earlier this week, Los Angeles and neighboring areas in California experienced multiple wildfires along with severe Santa Ana winds, which caused extensive damage to Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and other locations. Major Hollywood events and professional sports matches were canceled as a consequence of the fires. Nevertheless, Niantic has confirmed that it still intends to proceed with next month’s Pokémon Go Tour: Unova – Los Angeles event at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl stadium.
“Our team has been closely monitoring the situation in Los Angeles with the safety of Pasadena, Greater Los Angeles, and of course our Niantic community in mind,” stated Niantic’s director of communications, Impress Van Lommel, in a commentary to Dos Esports. “While we are currently proceeding with our preparations, any updates regarding the event will be communicated as they become available.”
The fires in Los Angeles are still ongoing and have been severely destructive to the community and its residents. Information on how to assist the affected victims can be found here.
Even though the wildfires have impacted Pasadena as well, the Rose Bowl remains unharmed and ready for the Pokémon Go Tour: Unova – Los Angeles on February 21-23. Prior to the fires, Niantic announced that the event would mark the Pokémon Go debut of Black Kyurem and White Kyurem ahead of their global release on March 1.
Late last year, Niantic revealed that it has utilized the activities of Pokémon Go players to develop a real-world AI navigation model. While Niantic subsequently mentioned it doesn’t want its AI model used for warfare, the company did not completely dismiss the possibility of providing this data to governments. In other Pokémon news, reports indicate that the Japanese mob is allegedly using Pokémon cards to launder money. Additionally, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, along with other mobile games from the franchise, has achieved 30 million downloads in its first week alone. One of the upcoming titles in the series, Pokémon Legends Z-A, is set to be released later this year.