Celebrate Pokemon Go's First Anniversary with Pikachu in a Special Hat

Happy Birthday, Pokemon Go! We choose you!

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Today is the anniversary of Pokemon Go's launch and even though the Pokemania of last year has settled, the game is still super popular and incredibly profitable. The developers of the game at Niantic Labs just posted this letter to the community:

Trainers,

It’s hard to believe that Pokémon GO launched just a year ago, and what an amazing year it’s been! Since joining us last July, you’ve demonstrated the true power of Pokémon GO and augmented reality gaming by searching for Pokémon in the real world, exploring on foot, building new friendships, and discovering new places right in your own neighborhoods. Throughout this incredible journey, you’ve caught over 125 billion Pokémon and made countless memories along the way. But there are many more adventures still to come.

Just a few weeks ago, the one-year anniversary celebration kicked off with a bang. You and millions of other Trainers went outside to battle in revamped Gyms and participate in Raid Battles with family and friends for the first time, but this was only the beginning of an action-packed couple of months. The celebration continues with a special Pikachu wearing a familiar hat appearing all over the world. From July 6 at 1:00 P.M. PDT to July 24 at 1:00 P.M. PDT, Pikachu discovered in the wild will be wearing Ash’s famous hat from the Pokémon animated series, so make sure you don’t miss out on your opportunity to catch one! You’ll also be able to stock up for Raid Battles and the events ahead with the special limited-time Anniversary Box, which will include Incubators, Max Revives, Ultra Balls, and Raid Passes at a discount in the in-game shop.

Stay tuned for even more exciting news over the coming weeks, including additional information on Pokémon GO Fest Chicago this July, events hosted at select Unibail-Rodamco locations this August and September in Europe, and Pokémon GO events at the Pikachu Outbreak in Yokohama, Japan, this August!

—The Pokémon GO team

You heard it here, Trainers. From now until July 24th at 1:00 PM PT, you can try to catch Pikachu in his adorable hat.

Check out our retrospective on How Pokemon Go Was Made and The 10 Most Annoying Pokemon in Pokemon Go for even more awesome information.

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 6, 2017 12:25 PM

    Asif Khan posted a new article, Celebrate Pokemon Go's First Anniversary with Pikachu in a Special Hat

    • reply
      July 6, 2017 4:17 PM

      As a "loyal" pokemon go player (lvl 37, going to chicago for fest), this is a terrible first anniversary event. The "crate" in the store is not a price reduction in any way (6x incubators = 900, 2 raid pass = 200, the rest is irrelevant, they are charging 1200)..

      The *real* story is how the subreddits for pgo have basically shut down due to the backlash. I don't think Niantic gets how passionate their players are, we've been waiting for the "game" to show up for some time now, and the new gym system is barely an improvement (it is actually worse in a lot of ways, coin redemption being the biggest offender).

      I will stick it out, especially through the Chicago event, but it feels like 1 step forward, two steps back for EVERYTHING. Even the gym update had us glitching out of control for the first week or so, you'd think the basic "combat" (lol) system would have had like basic regression tests by now. Nope. Me and a ton of friends all lost raid passes due to our charge attacks not working, or going into a death switch animation loop. It sucks. I get that this game is big, and it's hard to write code. But ffs, this game has made a ton of money, there is no excuse now, they gotta deliver something commensurate to our time/money, or we're all gonna go do something else sooner or later.

    • reply
      July 7, 2017 1:21 AM

      Jesus it's already been a year?

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