--- description: The unauthenticated video could, if confirmed, be indicative of just how all-consuming the smartphone game has become title: Epic Video 'Shows Huge Mob in Taipei Racing After Pokémon' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Pokémon Go May Have Just Shown Us What the End of the World Looks Like by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 22, 2016 9:32 AM CUT by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 22, 2016 9:32 AM CUT A surreal video that purports to show thousands of [Pokémon Go](http://time.com/4400791/pokemon-go-iphone-android-nintendo/ "undefined") players in Taiwan stampeding after a Snorlax — a relatively rare creature in the Pokémon pantheon — could, if confirmed, be indicative of just how all-consuming the smartphone game has become. The unverified video was [first posted on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/maggiejoypig/videos/1352812231398943/ "undefined") on Saturday by a user in the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, and later posted on YouTube. In it, we see a mob pushing through an intersection in what looks like the city’s Xinbeitou district with the urgency and intensity one usually expects of marathons or attempts to escape alien invasions or terrorist attacks. There was a Snorlax waiting for them, it is alleged, and so they took off en masse. While TIME has not authenticated the clip, [Chinese media reports](http://taiwan.huanqiu.com/roll/2016-08/9341622.html "undefined") say that the Xinbeitou area has become a daily focus for “thousands” of players looking to catch the particularly exotic Pokémon that appear to populate the surrounding streets. Overcrowding is so intense, reports say, that the civil-defense brigade has had to be called in, along with police reinforcements from neighboring areas. The Pokémon Go craze has been causing disturbances in many parts of Asia. In the Thai capital, Bangkok, police have threatened to arrest pedestrians and motorists [playing the game on major roads](http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1067812/police-launch-pokemon-blitz "undefined") because of the number of accidents the game has caused. In Cambodia, players have caused outrage by chasing Pokémon in the [Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum](http://time.com/4446135/pokemon-go-phnom-penh-tuol-sleng-cambodia/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4460911/pokemon-go-taipei-stampede-snorlax-mob-xinbeitou-taiwan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4460911/pokemon-go-taipei-stampede-snorlax-mob-xinbeitou-taiwan/"},"headline":"Pokémon Go May Have Just Shown Us What the End of the World Looks Like","datePublished":"2016-08-22T09:32:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:35:42.492Z","description":"Thousands of people swarm a Taiwanese intersection in a scene reminiscent of science fiction","url":"https://time.com/4460911/pokemon-go-taipei-stampede-snorlax-mob-xinbeitou-taiwan/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Video Games","Bizarre","pokemon go"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4460911/pokemon-go-taipei-stampede-snorlax-mob-xinbeitou-taiwan/","name":"Pokémon Go May Have Just Shown Us What the End of the World Looks Like"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Driver Playing Pokemon Go Crashes Into Police Car.","description":"A man drove into a cop car while playing Pokémon Go on his phone in Baltimore on Monday.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Mq4MoLNW/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-07-20T16:16:26.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Mq4MoLNW.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4460911/pokemon-go-taipei-stampede-snorlax-mob-xinbeitou-taiwan/","duration":"PT51S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4460911/pokemon-go-taipei-stampede-snorlax-mob-xinbeitou-taiwan/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```