Pokémon Go was launched in July 2016 and quickly took the world by storm. Even individuals who had never played a Pokémon game downloaded the app to join in on the global craze, and by the end of that year, over 232 million people were playing the game. Now, though it isn't as popular as in its initial release, PoGo still has over 90 million players and even a dedicated group at UNC for players to continue to participate in the game.
To bring lovers of PoGo together at UNC, a GroupMe was formed in late 2016, right around when the game was initially released. Over the past eight years, the group has continued to evolve — just like the game — now with over 1,000 members, although not all of them are active.
Though the chat can be used for individuals to share new accomplishments they've made or ask questions about the game, its main purpose is to serve as a line of communication for players to meet for special meetings and events. One of the most popular events happens every Wednesday night to complete “Raid Battles” together, which is a feature introduced about a year after PoGo was created and lets a group of players works together to defeat a high-level Pokémon.
Katherine Elliott, a junior at UNC who has been playing Pokémon games since 2007 and PoGo since she arrived at college, said she joins other members of the PoGo group at UNC almost every week in “Raid Hour” to participate in Raid Battles.
“You have to have other people and having that community is an invaluable part of that,” she said.
Beyond just being able to play the game, if not for the PoGo group and the Raid Hour meetings, Elliott said she wouldn't have been able to meet one of her current best friends.
During one of the weekly meetings, Elliott met Richard Ridenhour, a senior at UNC who has been playing PoGo for about five years. Over the past two years, they have remained friends, playing PoGo or going to different UNC athletic events together, and they credit the PoGo group for bringing them together.
“It's just a good opportunity to be social and get to meet some of the people around here,” Ridenhour said about the group in general.
Because of aspects of the game like Raid Battles, PoGo is inherently social, and that's just one of the things that both Elliott and Ridenhour appreciate about it, as well as other members of the group.
