Thousands of Pokémon GO players gathered in Times Square on Thursday, July 9, 2026, to celebrate the game's 10th anniversary [3].
The event marks a decade of the augmented-reality phenomenon and serves as a symbolic milestone for the community and the developers.
The celebration featured a massive takeover of the New York City landmark, centered around a special Mega Mewtwo Y raid. Reports on the scale of the gathering vary, with some sources stating 1,500 trainers participated [4], while others noted nearly 2,000 people played the game together simultaneously [1]. The festivities continued until 9:45 p.m. EDT [5].
Kim Adams, vice president of game development for Pokémon GO at Scopely, said the event was a way of fulfilling the promise the company made when the game first launched 10 years ago [2].
Since its debut, Pokémon GO has shifted the landscape of mobile gaming by integrating physical movement with digital collection. The 10th anniversary event in the U.S. highlights the game's enduring ability to mobilize large crowds in urban centers—a trait that defined its initial viral success. The choice of Mega Mewtwo Y as the featured raid boss provided a high-difficulty challenge for the assembled trainers.
Organizers designed the experience to bridge the gap between the game's early promises and its current state. By centering the celebration in one of the world's most visited locations, the developers aimed to create a visible spectacle that mirrored the global scale of the player base.
“We are fulfilling the promise we made when Pokémon GO launched ten years ago.”
The 10th anniversary event demonstrates that Pokémon GO retains significant cultural relevance and a dedicated user base a decade after its launch. By executing a large-scale physical gathering in Times Square, Scopely and the Pokémon Company are reinforcing the game's identity as a social, location-based experience rather than a traditional stationary app.
