Earlier this year, Los Angeles and surrounding areas were ravaged by devastating wildfires. At the time, Pokemon Go developer Niantic assured fans that its Pokemon Go Unova Tour – Los Angeles event would go on as scheduled in February. Now, Niantic is stepping up to help aid Los Angeles’ recovery efforts alongside The Pokemon Company for a joint donation of $1 million.
As announced on the official Pokemon site, Niantic will donate $500,000 to GlobalGiving’s California Wildfire Relief Fund, while The Pokemon Company will distribute the remaining $500,000 to nonprofit organizations that are providing aid to the victims of the wildfire.
“Our thoughts are with those affected by the devastating wildfires in Southern California,” said The Pokemon Company’s Raquel Daniels in a statement. “We are grateful for the opportunity to support relief efforts in the greater Los Angeles area alongside our partners at Niantic and GlobalGiving.”
Niantic recently extended an offer to refund tickets for Pokemon Go Unova Tour – Los Angeles through February 23. The event will be held at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena on February 21-23, and it will include citywide gameplay in Los Angeles and Orange County. It will also mark the Pokemon Go debut of Black Kyurem and White Kyurem ahead of their global rollout on March 1.
Beyond this event, Niantic recently announced a partnership with Major League Baseball that will include Pokemon Go events in baseball stadiums across the country. Niantic has also laid out the rest of the Pokemon Go events for February, as well as what’s planned before the global Pokemon Go Tour: Unova event on March 1-2. In other Pokemon news outside of the mobile game, the Japanese mob is reportedly using Pokemon cards to launder money, while a former US postal worker recently pled guilty to stealing $100,000 worth of Pokemon cards and other collectibles.
