Invitations were sent to 2,000 Pokémon Go players in New York City for a special event. This invitation-only approach helped to manage crowds in a busy area. Players were informed about raids happening near Times Square, as stated by Mark Van Lommel, Scopely’s marketing director.
At a scheduled time, notifications prompted ticketed players to gather in Times Square for a live electronic dance music (EDM) concert by Loud Luxury. After the concert, a major battle against Mega Mewtwo Y began, which ended in victory for the players.
The event was shared live on Pokémon’s websites and social media. This weekend, a global virtual event will allow trainers everywhere to enjoy the same Mega Mewtwo Y gameplay, but without the Times Square screens. Van Lommel noted that this is a free experience for all players worldwide.
Scopely reports that over 800 million people have played Pokémon Go in the past ten years, with more than 1 trillion Pokémon caught. The game had over 100 million active players in 2024, generating $1 billion in revenue that year.
Kim Adams, Pokémon Go’s vice president of Game Development, mentioned the growth of community ambassadors from 50 to over 3,000 worldwide in two years. Live events are popular, with nearly 1 million tickets sold in 2024. Despite past issues with server overloads, improvements have been made over the years.
Test Your Understanding
How much do you know?
