10 years of Pokémon Go: the game that turned the world into a playground
Image: BBC News
A decade ago, Pokémon Go turned a walk to the shops into a monster hunt. Ten years on, the augmented-reality game shows no sign of fading.
Launched in 2016, it used GPS and a phone camera to drop virtual creatures into the real world — and quickly became one of the biggest mobile launches in history. It has now been downloaded more than a billion times, with millions still logging on each day.
To mark the anniversary, hundreds of players gathered in New York's Times Square on Thursday to battle a giant Mewtwo, a nod to the game's original trailer from over a decade ago.
Why it matters: Pokémon Go's staying power is rare in an industry built on churn. Michael Steranka of publisher Scopely says the experience "will always start with community" — so much so that the studio receives wedding invites from couples who met through the game. In an era of isolating screens, a title that literally gets people outside, walking and meeting strangers, struck a chord that endures.
The formula was deceptively simple: overlay digital monsters on a live view of the world, then reward exploration. It spawned copycats, reshaped location-based gaming, and briefly sent crowds flooding into parks worldwide.
A decade in, Scopely says it's "only scratching the surface" — pointing to live events and a loyal base that treats the game less like a pastime and more like a shared ritual.
What's next: As AR hardware matures, Pokémon Go's decade of lessons could shape the next wave of games that blur the line between the couch and the street.