Pokémon Go celebrates 10 years with massive Times Square Mewtwo battle

Nearly 2,000 players gathered in Times Square on Thursday evening to battle Mega Mewtwo Y in one of the largest in-person Pokémon Go events ever, marking the game's 10th anniversary Source: The Verge. The event fulfilled a promise made in the original 2015 trailer, which showed trainers swarming Times Square to defeat Mewtwo—a scene never recreated until now Source: Wired.

The event

Players packed Times Square as billboards lit up with augmented-reality visuals of an escaped Mewtwo Mega Evolving. The battle drew influencers and fans, with the area briefly going dark before the spectacle began Source: The Verge. Scopely, which acquired Niantic's games business last year for $3.5 billion, organized the event. VP of product Michael Steranka called it a "pipe dream" that finally became reality Source: The Verge.

Fulfilling an old promise

Niantic's original trailer teased multiplayer raids and legendary encounters before those features existed. "We sort of made promises to players... Now, 10 years later, we feel like we've actually delivered," Steranka said Source: Wired. The event contrasts sharply with the disastrous 2017 Pokémon Go Fest in Chicago, where network issues stranded players. Steranka, who helped coordinate that event, recalled thinking he "should have been fired" Source: The Verge.

A long road

Pokémon Go has remained a mobile giant, with over 800 million downloads and $1 billion in revenue in 2025 alone Source: The Verge. Lifetime player spending exceeds $6 billion Source: Wired. Scopely's games president Ed Wu attributes the game's longevity to a focus on community events like this one Source: The Verge.