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A Pokémon Go group is continuing to thrive in Preston almost a decade after the game first launched onto smart phones.
The game, developed by Niantic, was released in 2016 and once had 232 million people play in a single month at its peak popularity shortly after launch. Around 43,000 people were still playing daily in the UK as of June 2022.
In 2025, there are typically 32 million people playing globally each month with the game, which is built on a real world map, receiving regular updates and still generating billions in revenue each year.
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Dozens of players now meet in Preston city centre at least once a week to either socialise or otherwise team up to take down the latest raids the game puts in front of players.
Reece Warbrick, 22 from Bamber Bridge but living in Leyland, set up the group in September 2023 in response to simply needing more people to tackle the harder content.
He told Blog Preston: “The group started when Shadow Raids [a particularly challenging type of group battle] were still quite new. Me and my cousin weren’t strong enough to defeat them so I decided to see if anyone around Preston wanted to help with them. I created it September 2023 and have been running it since.
“Pokémon go is still huge! We have nearly 600 members on Campfire (Niantic’s app) and nearly 300 on Discord. On the bigger events we can get upwards of sixty people.”
The Preston Pokémon Go group met every Wednesday in Preston city centre from 6-7pm at the very least. They’ll often arrange weekend meets depending on what events Niantic have put in place which are at their peak in the spring and summer and can span the full weekend.
Reece added: “The most recent event, Go Tour Unova over the weekend just gone had around sixty people on Saturday and fifty on Sunday. This includes people of all ages and families. We are an inclusive group who strive to ensure people from all backgrounds can find a safe place to enjoy their free time.
“People get involved through joining the raids, or just walking around and talking while they catch Pokémon. Quite a few people often come just to be social while others complete raids.
“My advice is be prepared to walk long distances, at times, but only at your own pace and most of all make sure to enjoy yourself!
If you are interested in taking part, you can join their Discord channel here.
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