Pokémon GO Celebrating Fifth Anniversary of Launch With Special In-App Events

Today marks the fifth anniversary of Pokémon GO launching on iPhone, allowing people to get out in the world and catch Pokémon using augmented reality, and developer Niantic is celebrating with several in-app events over the next week and a bit.

pokemon go five
Between Tuesday, July 6 at 10:00 a.m. and Thursday, July 15 at 8:00 p.m. local time, players will have the chance to capture a Flying Pikachu with a 5-shaped balloon in the wild, and Darumaka will also be appearing more frequently. Fireworks will also be returning to the Pokémon GO map in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the game.

Niantic outlined the complete in-game events and bonuses that will be available during the celebration week in a blog post. Players are advised to be aware of their surroundings and follow guidelines from local health authorities when playing Pokémon GO.

Pokémon GO has received several major updates over the last five years, including an improved AR+ experience, Raid Battles, Field Research, and more. The game can be downloaded for free on the App Store, with PokéCoins and other in-app purchases available.

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...
Liquid Glass General Feature

Apple Shares Liquid Glass Design Gallery

Thursday November 6, 2025 2:45 pm PST by
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences. The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
airtag purple

Apple's Website Lists AirTag 4-Pack at Shockingly Low Price [Updated]

Friday November 7, 2025 6:40 am PST by
Apple's online store in the U.S. is suddenly offering a pack of four AirTags for just $29, which is the same price as a single AirTag. This is likely a pricing error, and it is unclear if orders will be fulfilled. Apple has not discounted the AirTag four-pack in any other countries that we checked. Delivery estimates are already pushing into late November to early December, suggesting...
iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Available Now With These 8 New Features

Monday November 3, 2025 5:54 am PST by
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more. Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features. Liquid Glass Toggle iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass. In the Settings app, under Display...
ikea smart home devices

IKEA Debuts 21 HomeKit-Compatible Smart Bulbs, Sensors, and Controls

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:08 pm PST by
IKEA today announced the upcoming launch of 21 new Matter-compatible smart home products that will be able to interface with HomeKit and the Apple Home app. There are sensors, lights, and control options, all of which will be reasonably priced. Some of the products are new, while some are updates to existing lines that IKEA previously offered. There are a series of new smart bulbs that are...
Early Black Friday Deals 1

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals on MacBook, Apple Watch, iPad, and More

Saturday November 8, 2025 6:16 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
Apple fitness plus feature

Future of Apple Fitness+ 'Under Review'

Sunday November 9, 2025 5:30 am PST by
The future of Apple Fitness+ is "under review" amid a reorganization of the service, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple Fitness+ remains one of the company's "weakest digital offerings." The service apparently suffers from high churn and little revenue. Nevertheless, Fitness+ has a small, loyal fanbase that...
maxresdefault

In-Depth iPhone Battery Experiment Pits Slow Charging Against Fast Charging

Friday November 7, 2025 1:19 pm PST by
HTX Studio this week shared the results from a six-month battery test that compared how fast charging and slow charging can affect battery life over time. Using six iPhone 12 models, the channel set up a system to drain the batteries from five percent and charge them to 100 percent over and over again. Three were fast charged, and three were slow charged. Another set of iPhones underwent...
apple watch se 3 always on

Apple to Remove iPhone-Apple Watch Wi-Fi Sync in EU With iOS 26.2

Thursday November 6, 2025 4:37 am PST by
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report. Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...

Top Rated Comments

rjp1 Avatar
57 months ago

Do people still play this?
Over 150 million users and $1 billion in revenue last year - take a guess.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iBungie Avatar
57 months ago

Do people still play this?
Yes, I do. Nearing Level 42 and don't make in app purchases. Gets me out walking.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
57 months ago

Registered users are not active users and the billion comes from the same 10 people still playing this game.
A billion dollars is still a billion dollars, no?

:p
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JGIGS Avatar
57 months ago

Registered users are not active users and the billion comes from the same 10 people still playing this game.
A billion is coming from 10 people? I guess Gates, Cook, Zuck and Bezos are among them?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
marty1980 Avatar
57 months ago
i am in multiple chats for Pokémon Go players, locally. Tons of players have been there since day 1, including me. My primary group is about 700 active players.

Changing jobs (before the pandemic) reduced my time greatly because my new job was not anywhere near anything useful in PoGo. Remote raids helped me a lot when they were introduced.

I play a little each day to complete tasks and get my daily sticker. I don’t spend a lot of money, but I will spend $10 here or there. Mostly to get incubators.

I’ve missed out on more recent legendary and unique Pokémon and I’ve never done Go Fest. I enjoy the game. Lots of people were playing went I went downtown on Saturday with my kids. We were doing other stuff, but I still got my shiny tepig and evolved it before community day was over.

They aren’t charging for the 5-year event. It’s just a flying pikachu, a Darumaka, and some other stuff that everybody can get.

People have always been haters towards this game. I don’t care. I enjoy it and so do many people in my community.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Am3r1ca16 Avatar
57 months ago

Do people still play this?
pEoPle sTiLL pLAy tHiS?

I live in NYC and there are huge discord community where people can connect with other pogo players. If you ever head to Byrant park/central park you'd be lying if you couldn't spot a pogo player.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)