Pokémon GO tops 1 billion downloads as Scopely marks 10 years

Scopely marked Pokémon GO’s 10th anniversary with a surprise live event in Times Square on July 10 and a free Pokémon GO Fest 2026: Global on July 11-12, putting the game’s social pitch back on display in one of the world’s busiest public squares.

The numbers behind that celebration are still huge. Scopely says Pokémon GO has been downloaded more than 1 billion times since its July 2016 launch, reached players in more than 150 countries and regions, and generated more than $1 billion in revenue in 2025 alone. The company also says trainers have explored more than 100 billion kilometres while playing and that more than 800 million players have been inspired to explore the world together.

That scale has been sustained through a live-service model that keeps pulling players back. Scopely says Pokémon GO has remained a top 10 mobile game every year since launch, with live events stretching across more than 60 cities in more than 25 countries and regions. The company puts average daily playtime at 45 minutes, a level of engagement that helps explain why a 10-year-old mobile title still commands attention in a market where most hits fade fast.

The business behind the game changed hands last year. Scopely completed its $3.5 billion acquisition of Niantic’s games business on May 29, 2025, bringing Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, Monster Hunter Now, Campfire and Wayfarer under its umbrella. Niantic said the deal’s total value to equity holders was about $3.85 billion when an additional $350 million in cash was included.

Scopely said Niantic’s games business had more than 30 million monthly active players in 2024, and that Pokémon GO alone had more than 100 million unique players that year. Niantic has said more than 100 million people play its games annually, and that live events have generated more than $1 billion in economic impact in host cities. Michael Steranka, Scopely’s vice president, has framed the game as a tool for bringing people together, pointing to wedding invites from players who met through Pokémon GO.

For a game built on walking, gathering and shared public play, that community story remains central. The Times Square event and the free global festival showed that Pokémon GO is still selling not just monsters to catch, but a reason to leave home and play alongside strangers who no longer feel like strangers.