Pokémon Knows Its Worlds Lottery System Sucks, But Doesn’t Have A Better Idea: ‘The Public Is Unaware Of The Level Of Demand’

The Pokémon World Championships and XP fan convention wrapped up on Sunday, and while there were some cool panels, fun meetups, and excellent battles on the main stage, the event itself was the victim of a handful of mini-controversies over the course of the weekend. Reports of scalpers, theft, and even the fire marshal shutting down parts of the show were blemishes on what otherwise sounded like a great weekend. If, like me, you weren’t able to get in through the event’s busted lottery system, you’re probably disappointed you couldn’t see any of this firsthand. Well, it sounds like more people are experiencing this disappointment than were actually at the event, according to Pokémon esports director Chris Brown. In an interview with IGN, Brown discussed the event and how, even with 50,000 attendees gathering in San Francisco this year, far more people who wanted to go didn’t get to attend, with around 130,000 people apparently joining the lottery. “The public is unaware of the level of demand,” Brown told IGN. “And so, unfortunately, 50,000 people are coming [to PokémonXP], [but] more than that number get the disappointment of [not being] able to sign up.” This issue of demand outweighing supply extends to almost every part of the event. Obviously there are issues like venue capacities that are beyond The Pokémon Company’s control, but even within the event itself, special activities, such as autograph signings, are also only available to a small fraction of the attendees. “A lot of people sign up, a lot of people can’t do it, and then there’s that disappointment layer,” Brown said. “And from an events perspective, we have to think, okay, is that rare experience worth the disappointment? And I don’t know the answer to that, actually. We want to offer some of those extra premium experiences. We want people to have an equal chance at that, so we allow an interest list to sign up.” Why not just use a “first-come first-served” system? According to Brown, this is to avoid a sign-up system that crashes and creates a frustrating experience for everyone, similar to when a Pokémon Center sale drops and both fans and scalpers descend upon the site. They prefer to give everyone a chance, even if it’s random, to get a ticket. “The only thing I can do from an event operator’s perspective is think about, ‘how do we increase supply over time?’” he says. “From a system’s perspective, there’s honestly not a better system [than interest list into lottery] for that.” Brown says that the company’s approach for subsequent World Championships and potential XP conventions will be shaped by feedback, but admits he doesn’t know the ideal solution to this problem. “There are some obvious things we can probably do to make it better, but, there’s a philosophical problem, though, of just the supply is below what the demand level is. How do you manage that?” Brown asked. “And if anyone has suggestions, I’m always all ears. But I don’t think anyone in the industry’s really cracked that. And it’s just part of the challenge.” Next year’s Pokémon World Championships will take place in Singapore, and wherever the event takes place, travel expenses are also a factor in who gets to attend the show. Worlds has typically taken place in the U.S., but has been moving around to other countries in recent years. According to Brown, that’s a trend the company plans to continue. “We are going to look outside the U.S., obviously,” Brown said. “ We have to, because the [Pokémon] World Championships is meant to serve the world, and for it to do that most effectively, it needs to move around between markets, so that fans anywhere know and players anywhere know that there’s a chance Worlds could be getting close to them at some point.” I understand the challenge The Pokémon Company has in front of it, and I’m also not entirely sure there’s a better solution here that doesn’t become advantageous to scalpers and non-fans who just view Worlds as a place to buy limited-edition merchandise to sell online later. We’ll see if The Pokémon Company changes things up for the event next year.