More than 5,000 passionate fans from over 20 nationalities gathered at Boulevard City in Riyadh on Friday for a major community event to celebrate the official launch of Pokémon GO in KSA.
Pokémon GO fans across Saudi Arabia descended upon Boulevard City in Riyadh on Friday to mark the official launch of the hugely popular mobile AR game on the country’s App Store and Google Play.
Organized by Niantic and supported by Riyadh Season, Saudi Tourism Authority with Saudi’s national tourism brand ‘Saudi, Welcome to Arabia’, and Savvy Games Group, the special event featured keynote addresses from Nouf Alhasoun, Head of Partnerships and Localization at Savvy Games Group and Omar Téllez, Vice President at Niantic. There was also a PvP Community tournament hosted by three of the region’s biggest gaming influencers, a ceremonial button press to mark the game’s launch, multiple fan giveaways, and a one-of-a-kind Raid Battle. Registered attendees came from more than 20 countries from across the globe.
In the build-up to Friday’s event, influencers Shongxbong, Banderitax, and oCMz called upon their 50 million followers to join their teams—Mystic, Instinct, and Valor, respectively—in a country-wide competition to help lead their side to victory. Tonight culminated these efforts, with Team Valor eventually being crowned the winner.
The victory came at the end of a cooperative multiplayer Raid Battle, which saw hundreds of Trainers representing their teams battling a powerful legendary Pokémon, Mewtwo, for in-game rewards and a chance to catch the rare Pokémon for themselves.
“The success of today’s event is a testament to the popularity of Pokémon GO here in Saudi Arabia,” said Omar Téllez, Vice President at Niantic. “It’s been our pleasure to bring this experience to Riyadh together with our partners. The community here has responded, and it’s been incredible to see so many coming together to catch some of their favorite Pokémon and enjoy their time together in person.”
Launched in 2016 by Niantic and The Pokémon Company, Pokémon GO promotes physical activity, discovery, and friendship through the excitement of catching and collecting Pokémon.
Today, over 100 million players play Pokémon GO worldwide yearly in more than 150 countries and regions, totaling over 1 billion downloads. Trainers have walked more than 8 billion kilometers collectively while playing the game.
Since its official launch in KSA on October 12, Pokémon GO has shot to number one in the Top Free Game category in Saudi Arabia’s App Store and number one in the Top Free Adventure Game and Top New Free Game categories in Google Play.
“Saudi Arabia is seeing incredible growth in gaming. We know that more than 67% of the population—more than 23.5 million people—are passionate gamers,” Téllez said. “We are excited to welcome many of them into our global Trainers community, and we know this event is just the start of our adventure together as we create new experiences and ways for them to connect here in KSA.”
Follow @PokemonGOAPPARA on social across X, Instagram & TikTok for all the latest updates on how to get involved, and use the hashtag #العب_PokemonGO to share your own Pokémon Trainer experiences.
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