Meet the Pokémon GO player who has walked more than 30,000km

Pokémon GO was a 2016 phenomenon. Ten years later, some players never stopped Sat 4 Jul 2026 at 4:30am It's a Wednesday night and at Brisbane's South Bank, Pokémon GO fans are gathering. It isn't a big group — a far cry from when the game was released in 2016 and the green strip along the Brisbane River thrums with life as thousands of players gathered to catch, battle and trade. The game took the world by storm, for a few weeks at least, before the inevitable drop-off as casual players left. But 10 years on these hardcore fans are still playing, and they say the game has changed their lives in unexpected ways. Owen Beck was just 13 years old when he started playing after hearing about it from a cousin. "I downloaded it, started playing it, got hooked, never stopped playing," he said. Fast-forward 10 years and Owen is a Pokémon Go Community Ambassador, one of 27 in Queensland, who runs the weekly meet-ups at South Bank as well as a monthly community day. "I attribute a lot of positive stuff in my life to Pokémon GO," he said. "It's probably my biggest passion." A chronic migraine condition that used to leave him bed bound "for days or weeks at a time" has become more manageable since he started playing, Owen said. He attributes that to necessity to get out and walk while playing Pokémon GO in order to level up Pokémon, hatch eggs and earn other rewards. "I walk like 15 to 20 kilometres a day," he said. In fact Owen has walked more than 32,500 kilometres since he first started playing in 2016. That's roughly the equivalent of walking from Brisbane to Perth and back, four times. He has also caught more than half a million Pokémon, although he admits there are still "a few people" that have caught more than him. The Wednesday meet-ups are an opportunity for players to work together on "raids", which grant them a chance to catch rare and powerful Pokémon. For most it's also a good way to catch up with friends, get some exercise and have fun. Karen, 59, has also been playing since 2016 and went to the meet-up with her 23-year-old niece Jo. "I had a friend who I worked with and we used to play for a while and it was just exercise and it was fun, but somewhere along the way I got a little obsessed," she said. Karen said she had only recently joined some of the local communities. "They're really kind and they're fun, and the people in them are interesting to talk to." Andrew Swan, 34, is a day-one player and still reminisces about the early days of the game. "I've seen a lot of jokes about it but it just literally felt like a time of peace. We were all there to have fun," he said. Andrew said "force of habit" has kept him playing, as well as friendships he has made along the way. "One of my closest friends I met playing here at South Bank playing Pokémon GO … and I literally went to her wedding last year in Bali." "You keep playing because of those friendships." Now a father, Andrew has had to scale back a bit but still manages to join in on the odd Wednesday night meet-up. He was one of roughly 115,000 people who recently travelled to Tokyo to take part in the annual international event Pokémon GO Fest. For Owen, the game hasn't just brought physical and mental health benefits; it's also how he met his partner. "We met playing the game and obviously it's really nice to play the game together," he said. "It's very convenient for your partner to be someone that's also as into the game as you. It's been perfect, I really love that." In Brisbane's eastern suburbs, mother-of-two Jessie Callaghan said she and her husband have been playing since launch day. "We went to Redcliffe one night and there were all these people playing Pokémon and someone just pulls up and screams out 'there's a Lapras down at Sandgate on the jetty!' and there were like ten cars that just sped off down the road," she said. "It was a bit crazy." When their first child came along, the couple made an account in his name "for when he was old enough to play as well". "When we'd meet up with the local raid group there was another couple that had a toddler … they ended up becoming best friends and they've grown up together." Ms Callaghan said she's always surprised to see how many other people are still playing. "We found out a few years ago that our neighbours actually play, and their daughter and there's a lady that lives three doors up that plays as well," she said. When asked what kept her playing for 10 years, Ms Callaghan had a quick response. "It's just a lot of fun."