More than a billion downloads in a decade — and millions still logging on each day. Pokémon Go, the mobile game that turned city streets into monster-hunting grounds, is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Released in 2016 on iOS and Android, the app uses GPS and augmented reality to overlay digital creatures onto real-world locations via a smartphone camera. It sparked a global craze, with players flocking to parks, waterfronts and shopping malls in search of virtual monsters.
“Pokémon Go marks 10 years with over a billion downloads and millions still playing daily.”
“Pokémon Go will always start with community — we think we’re only scratching the surface here,” said Michael Steranka, vice president of product at Scopely, the game’s publisher. “We often receive wedding invites from players who met through Pokémon Go… because it’s been such an integral part of their relationship.”
That sense of community was on full display on Thursday, when hundreds of gamers gathered in New York’s Times Square to battle a giant Mewtwo — a nod to the game’s original trailer from over a decade ago.
“By allowing you to take your mobile phone out into the world to discover virtual creatures, Pokémon Go helped realise the millennial dream of becoming a Pokémon Trainer,” said Matthew Reynolds, editor of the Pokémon news website One More Catch.
The game’s popularity has endured. It has hosted major live events in more than 60 countries, averaging more than 400,000 attendees a year since the first Go Fest in 2017. Scopely estimates players have explored over 100 billion kilometres while playing — roughly 334 round trips between the Earth and the Sun.
UK content creator j0beats runs one of Twitch’s biggest channels dedicated to the game and regularly travels to events like the one in New York to meet fellow players. “People always think it’s crazy that you travel all over just to catch some pixels,” she laughs.
