Niantic is expanding how Pokémon Go players can gain access to the various ticketed events that the game offers, adding an option for one person to gift a ticket to their in-game friends.
Starting with the Alolan Geodude Community Day on May 21, players will be able to gift purchasable event tickets to someone they have achieved a Friendship level of Great Friends or higher with. This will extend to larger, global events like Go Fest 2022 too.
This new feature will allow players to invite their friends along to events and pay for their tickets, giving them access to all of the extra bonuses and content that is typically locked behind them. It could act as a way to bring new or lapsed players along for the ride, potentially enticing them to keep playing after the event is complete.
Content creators could also use this feature for activations on their channels, offering giveaways in exchange for more engagement on socials, streams, or videos.
The process is simple. Niantic just added a second tab underneath the “Buy” option, which will instead let you purchase the ticket yourself and send it to a friend. And it is all easily accessible via the in-game shop.
Just like with most purchases in Pokémon Go, you can’t get a refund for gift tickets purchased for friends, so Niantic is asking that you confirm your friends will be able to attend or play during the event before you gift a ticket. Additionally, you can’t cancel a gift ticket once it is sent and you can only send a total of 20 per day, which seems like a generous number.
