Pokemon GO Fest is, unsurprisingly, returning again this year and is retaining its play from home format that was so successful during last years event.

For players, there's an added bonus this year though. To celebrate the Pokemon franchise's 25th anniversary, and Pokemon GO's fifth, Niantic is offering a massive discount on tickets - down from $15 in 2020 to $5 this year.

However, that's not the only way to play, and those who don't want to give Niantic any of their hard-earned money can still get some of the GO Fest benefits for free.

Here are the free and paid ticket differences at GO Fest 2021.

What Benefits do Paid and Free GO Fest Ticket Holders Get?

Players who choose to play the free version of GO Fest 2021 will still get to take part in a range of activities. They include:

  • Featured wild Pokemon - including costumed Pikachu
  • Four rotating habitats - Jungle, Desert Mountain, Ocean Beach and Cave.
  • Three-hour Lure Modules
  • Special Raids and Field Research
  • Half Egg Hatch Distance during event window and special 7km Eggs.
  • Special music composed by Junichi Masuda (the original Pokemon composer).

Paid tickets will, of course, gain these benefits too.

What Extra Benefits will Paid Ticket Holders Get?

Players who pay the $5 fee will get a range of extra content during GO Fest, including:

  • Event-exclusive Special Research Story
  • Pop Star Pikachu or Rock Star Pikachu music
  • Early Access to Mythical Pokemon Meloetta
  • Global Challenge Arena special rewards
  • Four Collection Challenges based on the four habitats
  • Special Pokemon attracted to incense - including Unown F and G, Throh, Sawk and Chatot.
  • Increased Shiny odds during the event.
  • Exclusive Avatar Pose
  • Suprise Snapshot Encounters
  • GO Fest Themed Stickers
  • Bonus 10k EXP from every completed raid
  • Timed Research on Day Two which offers up to eight Remote Raid passes plus a further 10 raid passes from Gyms.
  • Over 5,000 PokeCoins worth of items, including a three Remote Raid pass bundle at no extra cost.

Should you pay for the event?

Ultimately, that's up to you. If you're a casual player, there's more than enough to get involved in. However, for $5, players get tons of extra value.

The remote raid passes alone are worth around $10, or, if you were to buy 5,000 PokeCoins, that would set you back almost $40 and that's not even including all of the Pokemon you can catch!

You can check out a full breakdown here.