- Pokémon Go’s latest Go Fest is right around the corner
- And nowhere are players perhaps more excited than in Brazil
- We got to talk to one of the folks behind promoting this massive event, Alan Mandujano
We usually try not to cover too much ‘business’ news here on PocketGamer.com. But I admit, when I got the opportunity to sit down with Alan Mandujano from Pokémon Go, who serves as head of marketing in Latin America, I was interested to hear what he had to say, especially with the highly anticipated Go Fest 2026 right around the corner.
Like many Japanese games and anime series, Pokémon is hugely popular in Brazil, and Alan himself grew up as one of those fans. And as part of his job, he’s been working to bring some of the same great events and attention we enjoy in Europe and abroad to Brazil.
So, let’s dig in and see what he had to say…
So, Alan, can you give our readers a brief overview of what you do with Scopely for Pokémon Go in Latin America?
Well, I’m the head of marketing for Pokémon Go in Latin America. So I’m focused on go-to-market strategy, community engagement, live events and partnerships across Latin America from Mexico to Argentina.
With Pokémon Go Fest coming up, which is one of the biggest events in the game’s calendar, how have you seen people respond to that in Brazil, particularly?
Yeah, I think players are very excited about the coming Go Fest. You know, this is our most exciting period of the year when we release the most exclusive content. We have the return of Mewtwo, one of the all-time favourites, and LatAm players are already excited. We’ve already seen chatter online about them starting to plan meetups.
I think we’re very lucky that we have such an engaged and passionate community. You know, how Latin America really embraces things, right? If you think of soccer, for example, it’s a sport that originated in Europe. But in Latin America, it feels local. People treat it as if it’s something from here. And I think we’re lucky that Pokémon Go is in the same boat.
Is there anything you can tell us about how you plan such massive events, and something players may not know behind the scenes?
So we’re working closely with a community of trainers in our community ambassador program to start planning for supporting them in their meetups. They organise in parks, and sometimes they even reach out to local governments and secure permits. Our communities are really, really organised, and we do our best to support them and make them feel supported.
For example, in our community ambassador program, players can join, and they receive kits with some postcards or some codes that they can give away at their local events. So these are ways that we are trying to foster this sense of community. And Latin America is one of the regions that responds the most to this.
I think this year, because it’s going to be free, that’s going to be really exciting for players. And in Go Fest, we have the physical events, we’ll have one in Tokyo, Copenhagen and Chicago, but then after that we’re going to have Go Fest Global.
We have a long list of communities across LatAm. And they are already contacting us about, “Hey, we want to do something for Go Fest Global.” We’re very excited about Mewtwo and the fact that it’s free, and that we hope it’s going to bring even more folks. So, yeah, we’re really looking forward to this summer.
Speaking personally, what are you looking forward to the most with Go Fest this year?
Well, I think Mewtwo. Mega Mewtwo has been requested for a long time, so I’m personally very excited to Mega evolve my Mewtwo. I have a pretty good one I got from the Go Tour 2022 in Monterrey, Mexico.
And of course, custom Pokémon, like new versions of Pikachu, are always very popular, especially the Shiny version. So I’m sure that a lot of our trainers are looking forward to that.
I think it’s a very special year for us. It’s a 10th anniversary. And I think it’s really going to be like our birthday party. And I think it’s going to come full circle. The fact that this game has come such a long way, right? If you remember 2016.
I remember my family and I were on holiday, and my sister and I were running around with our smartphones trying to catch Pokémon on just 3G.
And when Pokémon Go released in 2016, there weren’t a lot of features that we have right now. And we’re seeing more and more players that are coming back to the game and are excited about, “Hey, I didn’t know there were mega-evolutions, or I didn’t know there was trading now or battling.” And even features that are a core part of the experience now, like raids. So I think this Go Fest in particular [the hope] is to take it as high as it can be, and I’m really excited to support that in Latin America.
You’ve also got some really impressive statues representing all the team leaders and Professor Willow himself decorating the booth here at Gamescom. How did those come about?
Yeah, those are the statues that come from Japan, actually, and if you’ve ever been to Ikebukuro Pokémon Centre in Tokyo, they have these statues and displays. But, for example, the Professor Willow statue, that’s a new one. It’s the first time that it has been produced outside of Japan.
We partner with local artists [to produce these]. Of course, it has to go through a very strict approval process, but we work with a workshop that does this type of thing for brands like Pixar and such, so we are ensuring that it has the same level of quality as the ones in Japan.
And it’s really exciting for players to see because not a lot of folks have the chance to go to the Pokémon Centre store in Ikebukuro. But we can bring this type of experience to the Latin American audience. These three statues were first debuted them three of them at the city of Sao Paulo in 2024.
And that was a great experience because we distributed them across the city at different activation spots. Players wanted to visit all the other spots because each one had a different statue. We’re excited that we were able to produce the Professor Willow statue, which now completes the set. Since the City Safari in Sao Paulo we have been sort of travelling these statues around Latin America. We had them at City Safari in Mexico and Santiago in Chile last year.
What do you think drives you to bring these events to Brazil?
Latin America has traditionally been a bit underserved, if you will, you know, growing up as a kid and as a fan, I saw all these pictures of great Pokémon events happening in the US, Japan or Europe and wondering, like, when is that happening in my nation? And we are super proud to be able to now bring these type of experiences to Latin America.
And I’ve seen first-hand how popular this booth in particular has been with visitors…
Because it’s not just the statues, if you open the game in the venue, you will find additional Poke Stops and Gyms, and a special limited-time research that you can get during this event. So again, it’s fulfilling our mission of combining the physical and digital.
To wrap up the interview, can I ask if you have any particular message you want to send out to fans of Pokémon Go in Latin America?
My message to the fans is always gratitude. I myself started as a community leader back in 1999, and I had no one to play with, but wanted to complete my Pokedex. So me and my friends we created our own community, and it grew over time, and that’s part of the reason why we are here.
This thing that happened with me and my friends like 20 years ago, is now happening every day. Thanks to Pokémon Go, as we’re speaking. There are people in a park sharing contact information, creating a new community. And I think our job is to, you know, empower them and help them grow and give them ways that they can enjoy the game as we would have when we were kids as well.
So I guess my message to players is thank you, and join the community if you can. Download Campfire or follow us on social media and find a community near you. And not just in Latin America, the community program is worldwide. So anywhere you [are in the world] you can find a community and have a great time playing Pokémon Go.
And there you have it! Really exciting stuff to hear. And if you’re anything like me, it’s definitely gotten you interested in what Go Fest 2026 has to offer fans.
Qiana Redner
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