{"id":3990,"date":"2026-07-11T07:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3990"},"modified":"2026-07-11T07:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T07:35:52","slug":"pokemon-go-exec-promises-1000-person-times-square-mewtwo-event-is-just-the-start-of-10th-anniversary-my-personal-goal-is-to-create-core-memories-for-all-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3990","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Pok\u00e9mon Go\u2019 Exec Promises 1,000-Person Times Square Mewtwo Event Is Just the Start of 10th Anniversary: \u2018My Personal Goal Is to Create Core Memories\u2019 for All Players"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tTen years ago, \u201cPok\u00e9mon Go\u201d vice president of product Michael Steranka was crying in the shower because the first large-scale event for the hit mobile game was, in his own opinion, a disaster.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3988\">Randolph Mantooth, Who Played Johnny Gage on \u2018Emergency!,\u2019 Dies at 80<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe Niantic-developed game kept crashing, too many people were trying to play at once and the servers couldn\u2019t handle the game\u2019s immense popularity.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tBut today, Steranka is all tired smiles after pulling off a 1,000-person \u201craid\u201d event in New York City\u2019s Times Square Thursday night to celebrate the first decade of the now-Scopely-owned \u201cPok\u00e9mon Go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cA couple people joked with me that they hoped that I would go back to my hotel room and cry in the shower again last night, but this time happy cry,\u201d Steranka tells <em>Variety<\/em>. \u201cSo yes, different vibes. It was magical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHosted by video game industry personality and \u201cPok\u00e9mon Go\u201d fan Sydnee\u00a0Goodman, Thursday\u2019s surprise event was a nod to the vision for the game that was first teased a decade ago in an initial \u201cPok\u00e9mon Go\u201d trailer that imagined hundreds of people playing the game together (and catching a Mewtwo) in Times Square. More than 1,000 players (\u201ctrainers\u201d within the game) all united in one of the largest in-person raids in \u201cPok\u00e9mon Go\u201d history to take down the legendary Pok\u00e9mon Mega Mewtwo Y in a synchronized, real-world raid battle that was live-streamed worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cThis project was two and a half years in the making,\u201d Steranka says. \u201cThere are just so many things that go into making this a reality. The thing that started two and a half years ago was getting our own technology ready for this, because hosting over 1,000 players in a simultaneous raid instance is a technical marvel to pull off under the hood. So we had progressively been increasing over the years, how many players we can facilitate in an environment like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAnd that was just the in-game logistics part.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cFor the actual Times Square component, that took over a year of collaborating and coordinating with local authorities, figuring out how we could purchase out all of the different screens to really create this fully immersive experience,\u201d Steranka says. \u201cAnd at one point, we were convinced that we\u2019d actually have to pull the plug on this. It\u2019s actually so hard to find a an available day in in Times Square for something like this, and especially in July when the World Cup is happening. There\u2019s so many things competing for this incredible space. It\u2019s kind of like Doctor Strange\u2019s, \u2018There\u2019s only one path,\u2019 and we were able to find that one path and stick the landing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3986\">Colombia Adds Massive Soundstage as Bogot\u00e1 Audiovisual Market Attendance Soars and \u2018Narcos\u2019 Star-Led \u2018Rookies\u2019 Cleans Up in Project Prizes<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tHowever, Steranka has already seen the online complaints from \u201cPok\u00e9mon Go\u201d fans around the globe who didn\u2019t get the chance to experience the extra special moment \u2014 and he\u2019s working on something for them, too.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWe really felt like this experience, although, of course, it was amazing for the people who attended in person, we wanted it to be something that people could feel like they celebrated together all around the world because it has been a culmination of 10 years of \u2018Pok\u00e9mon Go\u2019 together,\u201d Steranka says. \u201cThat said, I have seen already some responses from players in different parts of the country or different parts of the world who are like, \u2018Oh man, I wish I could have joined on this,\u2019 just really bummed to have missed out on that. And to those players, what I would say is, my personal goal is to create core memories for each and every one of them over the next decade. And so, even if you couldn\u2019t make it to Times Square in person, my promise is that we are going to create equally epic moments all around the world, and I hope that everybody who plays \u2018Pok\u00e9mon Go\u2019 can enjoy the fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe anniversary fun continues with Saturday\u2019s in-game and real-world \u201cPok\u00e9mon Go Fest\u201d event, which will offer multiple special rewards tied to the game\u2019s 10th birthday. Goodman, who hosted the \u201cPok\u00e9mon Go\u201d Times Square event Thursday, sees this as the perfect opportunity to get back into the game if you happen to be a player who was playing hard back in 2016 but has since fallen off.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s easy to get intimidated because there\u2019s so much to do, and I think that there\u2019s a lot of people who maybe, myself included, feel that there\u2019s a right way and a wrong way to play \u2018Pok\u00e9mon Go,&#8217;\u201d Goodman says. \u201cBut the more that I\u2019ve spent time around it, and maybe even matured a little bit, I\u2019m kind of like, I don\u2019t really care if you think I\u2019m playing this game wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\n\tGoodman adds: \u201cI like costume Pok\u00e9mon, and I get excited when I have a shiny costume Pok\u00e9mon. And I\u2019m really hoping to get my first shiny background costume Pok\u00e9mon. And the anniversary event, especially this week, has been nice because since I haven\u2019t been playing, there\u2019s a lot of bosses that I don\u2019t have and there\u2019s ones that felt like, oh, I missed it, I can\u2019t ever get it again. It feels like a redemption moment where I\u2019m kind of riding this high a little bit of getting to fill my account back up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=3984\">Jay-Z Brings Out Beyonc\u00e9, Blue Ivy Carter, Nas, Alicia Keys and More for \u2018Reasonable Doubt\u2019 30th Anniversary Show at Yankee Stadium<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Pokemon Go&#8221; celebrates its 10-year anniversary this week with Mewtwo event in Times Square and new &#8220;Pokemon Go Fest&#8221; details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[293],"tags":[3265,3264,3266],"class_list":["post-3990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","tag-pokemon-go","tag-pokemon","tag-scopely-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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