Despite a weeklong series of cryptic social media posts hyping the event, Pokemon Go has canceled the surprise debut of Zorua during the Shuppet Spotlight hour. Fans are understandably frustrated, as the mobile game has suffered many broken events in the past several months.
Pokemon Go has landed in hot water repeatedly during both the Season of Light and the Season of Go that spanned the summer and fall months of 2022. Players have reported numerous glitches and problems, with redo events have becoming a common fix due to bugs and start time issues.
While things seemed to be turning up during October, with Pokemon Go players jumping in on the Litwick Community Day and celebrating Halloween with Ghost-type spawns and a cute map makeover, many have also expressed frustration at the Halloween paid ticket content and lack of new Pokemon debuts.
Backlash hit a new high, however, after a weeklong series of videos and teasers for a surprise Pokemon Go Zorua appearance were canceled due to major issues with the spawns in the earliest time zones. The Zorua, which were set to debut in the game during the October 25 Shuppet Spotlight Hour, were what had many excited to jump in on the event.
Niantic announces Zorua bug during surprise
In an official announcement shared by the NianticHelp Twitter account, it was announced that there was a big with the Zorua spawns. The post reads, “Trainers, we are aware of a bug where Zorua, a Pokémon with a planned surprise encounter during October 25th’s Shuppet Spotlight Hour, retains stats such as the height, CP, and attacks of the Pokémon it originally took on the form of.”
Trainers, we are aware of a bug where Zorua, a Pokémon with a planned surprise encounter during October 25th’s Shuppet Spotlight Hour, retains stats such as the height, CP, and attacks of the Pokémon it originally took on the form of.
— Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) October 25, 2022
The following posts go on to inform players that the Zorua successfully caught in earlier time zones won’t be available to trade, send to Pokemon HOME, or be used in the Go Battle League at this time.
Niantic also adds “[t]he Zorua surprise that occurred in time zones including and prior to GMT+13 will not occur in time zones after while we fix this. Shuppet Spotlight Hour will still occur.”
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The Zorua surprise that occurred in time zones including and prior to GMT+13 will not occur in time zones after while we fix this. Shuppet Spotlight Hour will still occur.
— Niantic Support (@NianticHelp) October 25, 2022
Fans are upset, with many taking to the comments to vocalize their irritation and outrage at another event plagued with broken spawns and bugs.
PkmnMstr_R3 stats, “Good job y’all. From one of the most hype spotlights to one that just may be one of the least played ever” and Dengarsw adds “Guys. At this point, you need to make a test server that’s open to the public. Your actual product should not be the test server. It’s one thing if it’s a GM event but it’s not. Maybe your internal tests are going well, but they’re clearly not thorough enough. Use the players.”
Many others comment on how the bug and cancelation are particularly upsetting due to it being a highly demanded Pokemon Go debut.
Scuffed05 comments “Neat, so now half the players won’t even be able to get this new Pokémon for God-knows how long. Why do y’all never test these things more thoroughly, It’s because of your mistakes that WE have to miss out.”
Currently, it isn’t clear if any other timezones will be lucky enough to jump in on the Zorua surprise during Shuppet Spotlight Hour.
It is more likely Niantic will announce a Zorua makeup event sometime in the near future. Regardless, it is definitely an upsetting situation for Pokemon Go players.
