The Pokémon Company International enhances global access and user experience on Pokémon Day

Challenge

A special day needs a special event connector

The Pokémon Company International, a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, is responsible for managing the property outside Asia, along with brand, licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, the animated TV series, home entertainment, and the official Pokémon website.

Every year on February 27, Pokémon Day celebrates the anniversary of the original Pokémon Red and Green game releases in Japan in 1996 with a livestream event that announces news, games, and other updates. Fans organize parties, watch marathons of Pokémon shows, share content on social media, and engage in both online and in-person events. There are in-game events and special promotions for fans at local events around the world.

As the 2025 Pokémon Day approached, a digital event locator specific for Pokémon Day was needed.

Solution

A quick pivot accelerates development

This was a complex undertaking because of the volume of requests expected once the global community had access to the Pokémon Day site. To address this challenge, the team quickly pivoted from current development to use a new event API and build a specialized event locator solution.

In 10 days, they were able to satisfy the infosec and performance characteristics expected by Pokémon to bring the solution to the public. Load-tested for 300,000 users over 12 minutes, it demonstrated robust performance. In less than a month, the app was deployed, connecting 14,000 players with events and significantly boosting user satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Results

Increasing player engagement with innovation, scalability, and reusability

The event locator supports seven languages and can be used for other celebrations of special events and embedded in TPCi marketing pages. Players can search by leagues near their location, compatible with desktop devices, tablets, and mobile devices. A back office manages the events that are going to be presented, as well as the name of the event and the official icon.

Its innovative design and a focus on scalability and reusability resulted in a remarkable 70% increase in event attendance. Rapid execution, coupled with significant business benefits, underscores the project's distinction as a leader in digital innovation.