Pokemon GO Marks 10 Years With 1,500-Player Mega Mewtwo Y Raid in Times Square
Pokémon GO turned its tenth birthday into one of the biggest real-world stunts in mobile gaming history on Thursday, July 9, gathering trainers in New York’s Times Square for a live-synchronised raid against a Mega Mewtwo Y with a combat power rating above 99,000. According to Shacknews, the Mega Raid itself pulled in over 1,500 trainers, all gathered simultaneously, to face the ultra-powerful Mega Mewtwo Y, which featured a CP level of over 99,000, while Variety reported that developer Scopely and rights holder The Pokémon Company officially framed the moment as more than 1,000 players uniting in one of the largest in-person raids in “Pokémon Go” history.
The spectacle, hosted live from Manhattan’s neon canyon, was staged as a direct callback to the game’s launch marketing. Shacknews notes the event began with Mewtwo taking over all of the area’s Pokemon Gyms before trainers watched it seize the Times Square screens and Mega Evolve into Mega Mewtwo Y, echoing the animated pitch that first sold millions of players on the app back in 2016.
Two and a Half Years of Engineering for One Night in Times Square
Speaking to Variety, Pokémon GO vice president of product Michael Steranka revealed just how long the studio had been building toward the moment, saying “this project was two and a half years in the making,” adding that “hosting over 1,000 players in a simultaneous raid instance is a technical marvel to pull off under the hood”. Steranka contrasted the polished execution with the game’s chaotic 2016 debut, when Variety reports he was “crying in the shower because the first large-scale event for the hit mobile game was, in his own opinion, a disaster,” as the Niantic-developed game kept crashing under unprecedented demand.
Ed Wu, President of Games at Scopely, framed the milestone in a statement carried by Bleeding Cool, saying “As Pokémon GO celebrates its 10th anniversary, what continues to inspire us is how the community has grown with the game,” and that what started as an invitation to explore has “become something that brings players together across cities, countries, and cultures”. Bleeding Cool also confirmed the raid was capped off with a Loud Luxury performance for the assembled crowd.
Unity Attack and a Maxed-Out Mewtwo Reward
Getting past a raid boss with a CP north of 99,000 required more than tapping the attack button. Shacknews describes how near the end of the raid, all players were prompted to hold up their devices for a special Unity Attack that would weaken Mega Mewtwo Y long enough for a Master Ball throw. Every trainer present who landed the catch walked away with a maximum-stat Mewtwo exclusive to the event — a reward GamerBraves confirmed was tied specifically to a Unity Raid, a format that allows thousands of players to fight the same Pokémon at once, with trainers who took part able to catch a special version of Mewtwo only available at this event.
The night wasn’t entirely frictionless. Shacknews reported that as organisers checked in on the crowd, some trainers reported lagging severely or dropping out of the raid due to connection issues, with a few hundred of the roughly 1,500 participants ultimately losing their spot in the battle — a reminder that packing thousands of phones into one of the world’s busiest intersections still strains local networks a decade on.
Mega Mewtwo X and Y Now Headline GO Fest 2026: Global
The Times Square raid doubled as the soft launch for Mega Mewtwo’s worldwide debut. GamerBraves confirmed the event introduced Mega Mewtwo X and Mega Mewtwo Y to the game for the first time, forms that can now be challenged through new Super Mega Raids requiring at least eight trainers with strong, high-level Pokémon. The outlet added that these bosses can shield themselves mid-fight, and only Mega Evolved Pokémon are able to break through those shields, raising the bar for casual raid groups hoping to add either form to their collection.
That global rollout arrives via Pokémon GO Fest 2026: Global, which Bleeding Cool confirmed runs from July 11 at 10:00 a.m. through July 12 at 7:00 p.m. local time and is entirely free for all players who log in during the weekend, with every participant getting access to Special Research leading to an encounter with the Mythical Pokémon Zeraora, increased Shiny odds, and event bonuses. GameNGuide separately reported Niantic’s confirmation of 4× XP and 4× Stardust for catching Pokémon during the main party period, along with boosted Shiny odds for selected anniversary Pokémon in all regions.
Free Global Access Matters for AU/NZ Trainers
Because GO Fest 2026: Global runs on local time in every region rather than requiring a single synchronised worldwide window, Australian and New Zealand trainers get the same free Special Research, Zeraora encounter and Mega Mewtwo raid access as their Times Square counterparts without needing a ticket or a flight to Manhattan. That’s a notable shift from the paid, in-person GO Fest stops earlier in 2026 in Tokyo, Chicago and Copenhagen, where Mega Mewtwo X and Y first appeared on a ticketed, city-specific basis before this weekend’s global rollout.
With reports pointing to hundreds of millions of lifetime downloads, GameNGuide noted Niantic’s own figure that “Pokémon GO” has been downloaded by more than 800 million players since launch, underscoring why Scopely chose to stage the anniversary raid in one of the most photographed intersections on the planet rather than a closed venue.
Read also: Pokémon Go Go Fest 2026: Mega Mewtwo X or Y in Genetic Mastery Quest?
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