Pokémon GO is 5 years old
It's been five years since dé summer hit of 2016 kicked off: Pokemon GO on iPhone officially came out on July 6, 2016 and led (sometimes) to chaotic situations. People took to the streets en masse to catch Pokemon and it was the first time that augmented reality really took off. Developer Niantic is celebrating this week, with multiple events in the app. Between Tuesday 6 July 10:00 AMlocal time and Thursday, July 15, 8:00 PM local time, you have the chance to catch a Flying Pikachu with a 5 balloon. Darumaka also appears more often than usual. On the map you can see fireworks to make the 5-year anniversary extra festive.
Niantic has listed the events, bonuses and other extras in a blogpost. There you will also find an overview of the best innovations that have been added each year. The game has not stood still in the past five years. Improved AR+ and added new features such as Raid Battles and Field Research.
Niantic:
What an incredible five years it has been! Remember when Pokemon GO in 2016 was all about exploring the world and catching Pokemon? While this is still the core of the game today, the world of Pokemon GO is now so much more than that!
Trainers can also get 5 Year Anniversary stickers this week when they spin a PokéStop and have a chance to win additional gifts. The Item Bag will be expanded to 3,500. Raids are for Darumaka, Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie, while in a Mystery Box you can now find a Shiny Meltan. If you missed last year's festivities, you can participate in the Jump-Start Special Research, so you can catch up on other trainers. There are also special research tasks to find the starter Pokemon of different generations, including Bulbasaur, Cyndaquil, Mudkip and Tepig.
It's not over after that, because Pokémon GO Fest 2021 is scheduled for July 17-18. For $5 you can buy a ticket to Pokemon GO Fest to join in even more festivities, but even if you don't spend any money, there's plenty to do in the coming days.
Pokémon also celebrates 25th anniversary this year with the arrival of a new mobile Pokemon game called UNITE. In addition, two larger games for the Nintendo Switch will be released. Pokemon GO itself is still not quite 'finished'. This gives a real-time display of the light on the geographical location of the player. Niantic also wants to add more features to the Pokedex to make it more robust. Enough reasons to start the game again!