Pokémon Go Orchestrates 2,000-Player Raid in Times Square—Nine Years After the Same Engineer's Network Failed

Nearly 2,000 players gathered in Times Square on July 10, 2026, for a coordinated Mewtwo raid synchronized with live billboards. Michael Steranka, who managed Niantic's 2016 Go Fest launch before its infrastructure collapse under traffic load in Chicago, oversaw this event for Scopely, Niantic's new owner. The gap between Grant Park's failure and Times Square's choreographed execution reflects a decade of server maturation and live-service discipline.