Pokémon Go turns Times Square into a live Mega Mewtwo Y raid

Almost 2,000 Pokémon Go players packed Times Square on Thursday night, July 9, for a live Mega Mewtwo Y raid that turned one of New York City’s busiest intersections into a temporary battle arena. The 10th anniversary celebration was billed by Pokémon Go as a surprise event designed to bring the vision of the game’s 2015 launch trailer to life.

The spectacle came with numbers that underline how large the game has become since launch. Pokémon Go says it has inspired more than 800 million people to get outside and explore together, generated more than $1 billion in revenue in 2025 alone, and surpassed 1 trillion Pokémon caught to date. The company says the game now reaches players in 150-plus countries and regions, and that its live events have expanded across 60-plus cities in 25-plus countries and regions. Pokémon Go also says its community averages 45 minutes of daily playtime.

The Times Square raid was only the opening act of the anniversary push. Pokémon GO Fest 2026: Global was scheduled for July 11 and 12 as a free worldwide event open to all Trainers, extending the celebration beyond the concentrated crowd in Manhattan. Pokémon GO’s anniversary posts also framed the week as a decade-long milestone, including messages on July 6 and July 7 urging players to celebrate together during the 10th Anniversary Party.

The response to the New York stunt was not uniformly celebratory. Some fans criticized the event as exclusive and unfair, arguing that too few players could access the special raid experience. That tension sat at the center of the anniversary moment: the game that once sold itself on shared physical play delivered one of its most visible set pieces by concentrating almost 2,000 people in a single public square, then paired it with a free global event meant to reach everyone else.

For Pokémon Go, the Times Square raid was more than a nostalgic callback. It showed a location-based game still capable of pulling a crowd into the same place at the same time, while also exposing how hard it remains to balance spectacle, access, and the promise of communal play.