It's hard to believe that Pokémon Go has been a part of our lives for ten years now. I remember anxiously waiting for its launch back in my tiny hometown, just a couple of months before I was due to head off to university, unsure of its staying power. But now, as we just celebrated Pokémon Go's 10th anniversary, it feels like the future is still bright for Pokémon and Niantic's - now Scopely's - location-based mobile game.
As part of the anniversary, I got to speak to Jack Wilcock, head of EMEA marketing for Pokémon Go, about the ongoing celebrations, specifically highlighting the United Kingdom's growing number of events. From last year's Pokémon Go Road Trip and EUIC's long tenure at the Excel Center in London, to this summer's collaborations with the National Trust, the game's physical presence in the UK has really ramped up. I asked Jack how it felt to be involved in this process.
"I'm really proud to be a part of it," he said. "I remember living in London when Pokémon Go came out in 2016, and meeting up with friends in Regent's Park to catch Pokémon. For that to come full circle ten years later is very pleasing." London in particular is a growing hub for Pokémon Go activity, with 2026's Summer Quest event taking place in Shoreditch's Boxpark, the aforementioned EUIC tournament, and the city hosting a Go Fest back in 2023.
I asked what made this location a great place for a "real-world Pokémon Go playground", as the website says, and Jack said, "Boxpark Shoreditch sits at the heart of one of London's most vibrant and walkable neighbourhoods. It's a place where people come to meet friends, explore and discover new places, which is a great fit for the real-world adventure you experience in Pokémon Go."
Outside of the city, for both Pokémon's 30th anniversary and Pokémon Go's tenth anniversary, the company has a wider collaboration running with National Trust sites all across the UK. For the mobile game, this means new Routes, special research, and unique Pokémon Go raids to take part in. Of the collaboration, Jack said, "It's a partnership that feels like a natural fit. Pokémon Go is all about getting outside and exploring, while the National Trust cares for some of England, Wales and Northern Ireland's most incredible historic places and natural landscapes."
He continued, "Growing up, I spent a lot of time visiting National Trust properties with my family, so this is a partnership that's very close to my heart. The opportunity to learn, explore and spend time with friends and family is what I love about the National Trust, and those values align perfectly with what makes Pokémon Go great." The event also adds new Pokéstops and Gyms to all of these sites, which is pretty huge, considering how rural some of these locations are.
I noted that, at the game's launch, Pokéstops and Gyms were pretty hard to find in rural areas like my hometown, which seemed at odds with the mainline games' established lore of Pokémon appearing in tall grass. I asked if this influenced the decision to add more during the collaboration, and Jack assured me that "We are constantly adding more PokéStops and Gyms to rural areas, so partnerships like this are great to look at areas outside of towns and cities."
While Jack places a lot of focus on the UK's involvement in Pokémon Go events, he said that his favorite event this year so far was the Go Fest in Copenhagen. "It was the first big event we had done in the Nordics, but sold out every park ticket session, which was amazing, and Copenhagen proved to be a fantastic host city."
Finally, with costumed Pokémon making a major comeback during the anniversary celebrations, we asked Jack if there were any themed 'mon in particular that he would like to see, like perhaps a certain cowboy-hat Caterpie? He told us, "We are announcing some soon which look pretty cool! You'll have to wait and see them though…" You can't blame us for trying.
There's still plenty to explore in Pokémon Go this year to celebrate the game's tenth anniversary, and the World Championships are just around the corner, too! If you want to get back into the free mobile game with some friends, head to the Pocket Tactics Discord server and share your friend code with the community.