Pokemon Go: Where’s the First Anniversary Event Announcement?

UPDATE: Niantic has now announced their Pokemon Go anniversary event. It begins on July 6th and lasts through July 24th, and it will involve the release of a special Pikachu wearing Ash’s cap from the TV series. Plus, going on sale in the store will be a Anniversary Box, which includes Incubators, Max Revives, Ultra Balls and a Raid Pass.

July 6th marks the one-year anniversary of Pokemon Go, and although it was widely presumed that Niantic would hold some sort of special event to celebrate, nothing has been announced yet. So what’s going on here? Is Niantic definitely not having a first anniversary event?

Technically, Niantic never said that a one-year anniversary event was coming on July 6th; everyone just kind of assumed it. But just because no announcement has come yet does not necessarily mean there will be no event on Thursday.

After all, Niantic has on several occasions announced an event on the same day that it began. Back in April, for example, they held an Easter celebration. The event was announced on April 13th, and it began at 1:00 p.m. that same day. The Water Festival and Valentine’s Day festivities were also announced on the same day that they began. The majority of events had an announcement come a few days before they kicked off, but that’s not always the case.

Based on their history, it’s possible that Niantic could announce a one-year anniversary celebration on Thursday morning and then have it begin later in the afternoon. If that were to happen, though, it’s likely the event would either begin earlier than the usual 1:00 p.m. start time, or it would last for more than a day. After all, Niantic’s events typically begin at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time, which is pretty late to start a one-day event, especially if you don’t love on the West Coast. They have never before had a one-day event without giving players advance notice.

It would not be completely shocking If Niantic doesn’t have an event on July 6th at all, though. They may want to hold off until later in the month, as Pokemon Go Fest Chicago takes place on July 22nd. They could save a one-year anniversary event until around that time, launching it in coordination with the Chicago celebration. Last month, Niantic put up a blog post titled “Celebrating the First Anniversary of Pokémon GO,” in which they detail plans for July. A special event on July 6th is never discussed.

But it would certainly be surprising if there’s no event to celebrate the one-year anniversary at any point, especially considering that a recent update featured “ONE_YEAR_ANNIVERSARY” in the code. Also, Niantic celebrated the birthday of the Pokemon franchise by releasing special Pikachu wearing birthday hats, so it follows that they would also celebrate the birthday of their own game. At this point, it seems the two most likely possibilities are that there will be an event starting on July 6th and lasting one week, or there will be an event later in this month to line up with Pokemon Go Fest Chicago.

If there is to be an event starting on July 6th, we’ll likely hear about it on Thursday morning, so check back in then for updates.