Scopely Marks Pokemon Go's 10th Anniversary With 1,000-Player NYC Raid as 800 Million Played
Updated
Updated · CBC Sports · Jul 13
Scopely Marks Pokemon Go's 10th Anniversary With 1,000-Player NYC Raid as 800 Million Played
3 articles · Updated · CBC Sports · Jul 13
Summary
Over 1,000 players joined a Pokemon Go raid in New York's Times Square as Scopely staged global anniversary events marking 10 years since the game launched in July 2016.
800 million people across more than 150 countries and regions have played the game, Scopely said, and it generated more than $1 billion in 2025 revenue despite a smaller public footprint than its 2016 peak.
Players interviewed in Toronto said the game's draw now is less augmented-reality novelty than social routine—getting outside, meeting friends and building a day around play.
The anniversary comes under a different owner: Scopely bought Pokemon Go from Niantic in 2025 in a reported $3.5 billion deal and is already planning more than two dozen community events worldwide.
Data-use concerns still shadow the game after reports that optional location-scanning data could aid drone software, though Niantic has denied any game data was part of a military-linked partnership.