Thousands of ‘Pokémon Go’ Players Descend on Times Square to Defeat Mewtwo

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The air in Times Square on Thursday evening is electric. Not only because it's raining and thousands of Pokémon are virtually flinging attacks like Thunderbolt and Hyper Beam at the legendary Mega Mewtwo Y, but also because nearly 2,000 real-world trainers found themselves at one of the largest in-person Pokémon battles in history.

The event marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of Pokémon Go, the mobile game by Niantic that took the world by storm in 2016. The game—a mixed-reality hunting game that plays out in real physical locations as viewed through the players’ phones—attracted more than 130 million downloads in its first month and a record peak of 232 million active players the same year, generating nearly $1 billion in revenue.

Niantic’s effort to turn it into one of the first mobile “forever games” has been successful, with more than $6 billion in lifetime...

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