Pokémon GO was supposed to be taken over by Team GO Rocket at midnight, but they seem to have overslept in the first time zones. The Rocket event isn’t even active there. We have summarized how trainers are reacting and what this could mean for you here on MeinMMO.
What event is it about? In Pokémon GO, you can regularly encounter members of Team GO Rocket. At least once during the season, they receive their own event, in which they not only get new teams but are also found more frequently and accompanied by bonuses. At midnight on March 27, 2024, the event World full of wonders: Takeover
was supposed to start.
In the first regions, the event should have already been underway for hours due to the time difference. But there’s absolutely nothing going on, as trainers report on social media. We explain what impact this could have on us and how the trainers are responding to the situation.
Update from March 27, 2024, 00:00 AM: The Rocket event has started on time at midnight in Germany and should now be active for you.
Update from March 26, 2024, 10:30 PM: As trainers report on social media, the event has now become active in the earlier time zones. MeliaseMaree writes on Reddit:
9:30 AM update: I’m tired! But it seems the event finally went live around 5:30 AM.
But beware: Other trainers, like Simliar-Student-6773, report that they encounter issues with Giovanni’s new team despite the event being active. They wrote on Reddit:
I used my Super Rocket Radar during the new event and got Crypto-Kyogre from Giovanni again; how is that possible? All other leaders and grunts have the new Pokémon.
Whether the event starts on time at midnight in Germany cannot be said for sure at this time, but it is to be expected. We will keep you updated here on this matter.
Trainers waiting in vain for new Rocket teams
What have trainers observed? In New Zealand, players should actually have access to the Rocket event and be able to battle the new teams at 12:00 PM German time. But, as they reported on social media, nothing happened.
While there are usually only temporary problems and the event content is quickly provided, this time it seems as if the event was simply forgotten. Because even hours after the actual start, trainers are still waiting impatiently for the spawns and quests.
So is the New Zealand Reddit user MeliaseMaree, who shares regular updates in his Reddit post. He writes:
After midnight in New Zealand and no takeover event
[…] UPDATE: now after 1 AM in New Zealand and still no sign of the event.
MeliaseMaree on Reddit
To clarify – it is not in the “Today” tab. There are no free time-limited research tasks. The Rocket monsters have not changed. The spawns have not changed. There is no Rocket Box in the shop. …. However, the paid research ticket can be purchased.
How are other players reacting to this news? Trainers from neighboring time zones also confirm these statements in the comments and some make fun of Niantic:
- Anonymausss:
Can confirm that there is nothing to be found in Australia either. No spawns, no quest, nothing is happening now. I happened to have a radar and Sierra still has a bat.
- juqki:
Maybe you need to activate ‘time noise’, turn your phone seven times, and evolve a shiny Bidiza so the event only starts after you have caught a Ditto?
- umbongo44dd:
Trainers around the world will be able to work together to complete a challenge! If 1 million special research tickets are sold, we flip the switch and start the event – if you’re lucky!
What could be behind the fail? There are also some early speculations about why this fail happened. As MeliaseMaree mentions in his post, the missing start could be linked to the times in the various announcements. If one looks at Niantic’s blog post, the event was indicated to start at 00:00 local time.
In their original event overview on X, where all events for March are listed, however, it mentioned starting at 10:00 AM local time. There may have been a (communication issue) mistake here, as some write in the Reddit comments:
- As MeliaseMaree explains further:
3:30 AM update: I’ve now discovered the infographic that Niantic posted on Twitter… But not in the game or the blog post.. It indicates that the event starts at 10 AM. So I think… I don’t know, this company is very frustrating! I’m going to sleep now. Hopefully, it will be fixed for other countries, but I would be surprised if they extend it for New Zealand.
- And also krispyboiz is excited to see if the event starts at 10 AM local time:
I’m curious if the event ultimately takes place at 10 AM and they messed up the announcement.
What could a delayed start mean for us?
New event times: If the event indeed starts at 10:00 AM local time in New Zealand, we will likely also begin with a corresponding delay. The content would thus only be available here on March 27 at 10:00 AM German time.
But in the March announcement, not only was the start time different, but also the end time. The event would therefore only run until 8:00 PM local time on March 31, thus ending already 4 hours earlier. Whether this is actually the case cannot be said for sure at this point, as an official statement from Niantic is still pending.
Rocket teams: Another important change that would also affect European players due to a later start is the team switch. Members of Team GO Rocket should benefit from new monsters. In the past, these were always set at local midnight for the entire day for Rocket members at PokéStops, which is why similar events usually had the team switches happen only the following day.
If this is also the case for this event, then it is possible that you may only find the new monsters of the Rocket bosses, the new Crypto-Groudon from Giovanni, as well as the new teams of the grunts starting from March 28, 2024, in the game. However, they are usually available in balloons right after the actual event start.
Less time for quests: With shorter event times, you also have less time to complete your time-limited research tasks or to unlearn frustration from your monsters.
Whether Niantic will counteract this and may possibly extend the event remains to be seen. If there is new information on this, you will find out here at MeinMMO.
What are your thoughts on the event fail? Let us know in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers.
In the coming weeks, there is still much to come in Pokémon GO. We will show you all events in April and which ones are worth it.
