The Challenge

We needed to adapt the digital Gotta Catch 'Em All Gameshow (with remote contestants in a studio) to a live arena at Pokémon Worlds in Anaheim. We had to preserve the energy and mechanics of the show while making it work in front of a packed in-person audience.

The live format demanded physical buzzers and an interrupt system for on-stage contestants, plus a way for the entire audience to participate. We needed thousands of simultaneous users to play along, vote, influence the game through Team Rocket Takeovers, and provide real-time feedback—without overwhelming the venue network or breaking the flow of the show.

The goal was to make the arena feel like part of the game: partner Pokémon picks, live voting, and visible crowd engagement (including fans waving phones for team colors) had to integrate seamlessly with the existing show engine and broadcast.

Our Solution

Atomic adapted the GCEA digital show for live use at Pokémon Worlds, implementing a physical buzzer and interrupt system for on-stage contestants and building a dedicated audience participation app. The app let the crowd play along in real time, vote on outcomes, and help pick partner Pokémon, while Team Rocket Takeovers let the audience directly impact the game.

Thousands of simultaneous audience members connected to the participation app. Fans waved their phones in the air to display team colors, creating a visible, high-energy spectacle in the arena. Real-time feedback from the audience was integrated into the show flow.

We worked with Pokémon's team to bring the proven digital format to the live stage—same host, same game feel, but with the added dimension of a packed room and crowd-driven moments. Broadcast and in-venue systems stayed in sync so the at-home and in-person experiences both delivered.

Audience response was overwhelmingly positive; the live Worlds run was a huge hit and demonstrated that the show could scale from studio broadcast to arena-scale, audience-participation entertainment.