Pokémon Go Johto Tour and beyond: what's Ninatic plan for events in 2022

techradar.com:

The Covid-19 pandemic and the measures governments enacted in order to slow its spread brought huge changes to our lives in 2020 and 2021. Work moved from the office to our homes and social interaction online became the only way to see friends and family.

Businesses were hit hard too as they grappled with how to handle their customer’s new habits, and for some companies, the pandemic led them to shutter their doors for good.

It wouldn’t have been a surprise if Niantic had followed this unfortunate trend — with its game Pokémon Go specifically designed to encourage users to gather together and wander the outside world. Yet, thanks to changes to how Pokémon Go operates, particularly with regards to its live events, Niantic managed to turn 2020 into its most financially successful year ever, and its 2021 performance is expected to be strong as well.

But as restrictions are relaxed what can we expect from its upcoming Pokémon Go Johto Tour and the rest of its 2022 lineup; will we see a drop in the number of digital events or are in-person meet-ups a thing of the past?

During the Liverpool Safari Zone last year, TechRadar had the chance to talk to Philip Mars (Pokémon Go’s Product Marketing Lead for the EMEA region) and Michael Steranka (Pokémon Go’s Director of Global Product Marketing) to ask them just that. Here’s what they told us.

From the start of the interview, the pair made it clear that Niantic plans to keep on hosting events that require in-person attendees to show up at a specific location in the real world. And not out of devotion to Niantic's original vision for its games, but because players have shown time and again that they want to explore different areas of the world.

To give an idea of the popularity of their