The moment of Pokémon GO global launch, at Niantic HQ.

Introduction

On July 5, 2016, at 3:00 PM, surrounded by Niantic team members gathered in a conference room of an office building in San Francisco, CA, I pressed the button to launch “Pokémon GO.” Released on this day, “Pokémon GO” quickly swept the world into a frenzy of excitement. Images of people gathering in parks to catch Pokémon were reported daily on television, and there wasn’t a day when “Pokémon GO” wasn’t trending on the internet. Many people flocked to locations called “PokéStops” to play “Pokémon GO,” and portable battery chargers sold like hotcakes as people needed to charge their smartphones. Many celebrities, including U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, mentioned “Pokémon GO.” In Japan, it was already creating buzz before its release, and when it launched, crowds of people took to the streets searching for Pokémon. Parks in town centers where Pokémon frequently appeared showed festival-like excitement day after day, not just in Japan but worldwide.

“Pokémon GO” is a smartphone game jointly developed by The Pokémon Company and Niantic Inc. As of June 2017, it has been released in more than 150 countries and regions, with over 750 million downloads. I am involved with “Pokémon GO” as a member of the development team in the role of Game Director. In this book, I will reveal my journey from birth to my encounter with Pokémon, my employment at Google, and how I came to develop “Pokémon GO.”

I would be happiest if, through the story of how I—born in a rural area without even traffic lights—came to create “Pokémon GO” with the support of many people and numerous instances of good fortune, I could inspire readers with even a little courage.