Hundreds of Pokémon Go players gathered in New York's Times Square on Thursday to battle a giant Mewtwo – a reference to the game’s original trailer from over a decade ago. The event marked the 10th anniversary of a mobile app that has been downloaded more than a billion times and still sees millions logging on each day.
Released in 2016, Pokémon Go became one of the biggest mobile game launches in history, using GPS and augmented reality to overlay virtual creatures onto real-world locations. It sparked a craze where people flocked to parks, waterfronts and shopping malls in search of Pokémon.
“Pokémon Go celebrates 10 years with a billion downloads; Scopely says community is key.”
“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 Pokémon news website One More Catch.
The game’s publisher, Scopely, estimates that players have explored over 100 billion kilometres while playing – roughly 334 round trips between Earth and the Sun. Major live events have been hosted in more than 60 countries, averaging over 400,000 attendees a year since the first Go Fest in 2017.
Michael Steranka, vice president of product at Scopely, said the experience has always been about bringing people together. “Pokémon Go will always start with community – we think we’re only scratching the surface here,” he said. “We often receive wedding invites from players who met through Pokémon Go… because it’s been such an integral part of their relationship.”
UK content creator j0beats, who runs one of Twitch’s biggest channels dedicated to the game, regularly travels to events to meet fellow players. “People always think it’s crazy that you travel all over just to catch some pixels,” she said, laughing.
The franchise started on Nintendo’s Game Boy in 1996, and Pokémon Go represents its modern success on phones. While the craze has endured, the question remains: how long can a game about catching pixels keep millions exploring the real world?