“It was like being back in 2016” Pokémon Go celebrates 10th anniversary by recreating the original trailer’s Times Square Mewtwo raid
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Pokémon Go marked its 10th anniversary with a live event in New York's Times Square, fulfilling the final promise of the game's original 2016 trailer by letting players battle Mewtwo in that iconic location. The moment carried particular significance for the community, as it symbolically completed everything the game had set out to achieve when it first launched and evoked strong nostalgia for the game's breakout summer of 2016.
More than 1,000 players took part in a community raid, with Mewtwo appearing both in-game and on the giant screens surrounding Times Square, before it Mega Evolved into Mega Mewtwo Y as the countdown ended. Players battled the Psychic-type twice, catching it with a Master Ball, and the second Mewtwo was a guaranteed "hundo" with perfect stats. The event, run by developer and publisher Scopely (formerly Niantic Labs), also counted down each year of the game's history with themed raids and spawns. Attention now turns to Go Fest 2026: Global, held this weekend on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th July, which is free for the first time and features the global release of Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y.
- Poku00e9mon Go's 10th anniversary recreated the 2016 trailer's Times Square Mewtwo raid.
- Over 1,000 players battled Mega Mewtwo Y, catchable with a Master Ball.
- Free Go Fest 2026: Global follows this weekend, 11thu201312th July.
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Pokémon Go is a mobile game that lets players catch and battle Pokémon characters overlaid on the real world through their phone's camera and GPS, encouraging them to walk around actual streets and landmarks to play. It launched in July 2016 and became a global phenomenon almost overnight, drawing huge crowds to public spaces and turning ordinary locations into in-game hotspots. Its original launch trailer showed players converging on New York's Times Square to battle a powerful Pokémon called Mewtwo, an image that became iconic to fans but was never actually recreated in real life at the time.
The game is now run by Scopely, which took over development from the original creator, Niantic. A decade on, Pokémon Go still has an active player base who regularly take part in organised in-person events, including "raids" where large groups team up to battle powerful Pokémon together in real locations.
This background matters because it explains why staging a Mewtwo battle in Times Square carries special weight for long-time players: it is seen as finally delivering on a promise made in the game's earliest marketing, tying the anniversary celebration directly back to the game's origins.
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