Pokemon Go's 10th Anniversary is all about community
Pokémon Go has been out for 10 years now, and I'm lucky to have been playing since the very first day that it went live. I remember being 20 years old, in Sweden, with a bunch of game developers - we were hanging out by a giant popcorn sculpture when everyone suddenly started talking about Pokémon Go. I downloaded it and started playing right there in Sweden. It felt like a collective moment, where it was suddenly something that everybody had in common.
This was my first time in Sweden; I had recently moved to England, where I knew only a handful of people. Yet everyone was suddenly playing this mobile game. I remember going back to England and meeting up with people at our local games shop, walking around the seaside on select days, catching Pokémon and shouting about our victories. It was such a fantastic time, full of people and opportunities to meet new friends. Pokémon Go was able to bring together communities in a way that no mobile app ever had for me.
I went on walks in nature reserves to play Pokémon... Met up with people in London. In more recent years, I became a community ambassador, running a local community of individuals who all love to play the game, but also love to hang out together; a community with a common thread.
Community Ambassadors are all over the world, creating events and managing communities to bring more Pokémon Go players together. Each of them is a part of the growth Pokémon Go has enjoyed, as the community keeps players coming back.
"Pokémon Go means many things to me. For me it started out as a nostalgia thing, being able to go out into the real world and catch Pokémon on my phone was the closest thing to being an actual Pokémon trainer. But then this led to other things, making friends with people from different walks of life, getting out of the house for walks. Attending live events in places I’d not even consider visiting, to eventually becoming a community leader for our town. So essentially Pokémon Go means to me is nostalgia, friendship, exercise, travel and community. Especially the community aspect of it, I think that is the best part.
I love playing Pokémon Go, so here’s to the next 10 years of play.
Also, shout-out to my Community in Bishop’s Stortford; they are all very special people to me.
P.s and another shout out to all those Gengar fans out there."
Mike Wilkinson (MakoMW) is the ambassador for PoGO Stockport & Wythenshawe:"Pokémon GO is many things to many people. Nostalgia, emotions, moments, motivation. To me, though? It's a community.
Community has always been a big part of the game. Local groups have been around since the launch 10 years ago. It started back then as sharing tips. Spawns, nests. Gyms, updates. But as time has gone on, it's become more.
Are the crowds as huge as in 2016? Maybe not. But rather than an unglued mass, they're now focused. And still growing. Community is more and more focal, and for me, nurturing and encouraging that is key. I enjoy it. Taking a basic element and making it more. Creating events which, month on month, year on year, are getting bigger and better, drawing more people in. My aim is to make my area the place to Go. And that ultimately is what the game means to me. Making our community somewhere to Go."
Eki, the Ambassador from Turku PoGO, thinks it's quite simple:"PoGO means to me an excuse to get out of the house and get my steps in while maybe some socialising."
Pokémon Go has meant a lot to a bunch of different people, and it's made such a big difference to so many people's lives. I am currently the bridesmaid for a community member who is marrying someone she met playing Pokémon Go. It's just one of those games that has brought together people in a way unlike any other.
