Is Pokemon Go dead? In order to talk about the future of something, it's best to start with its past. Pokemon Go was released on July 6th and became an instant hit with millions of downloads - about 45 million of them. I remember that moment when I caught my Charmander in my living room. It was like a childhood dream come true. So, the first thing that I did was kiss my wife goodbye and set out on my adventure... to the local park where I sat like a dork catching Growlithes and Eevees for an hour until my battery died.
The game was glitchy, it drained my battery life faster than this year's elections have drained my hope in humanity, but it didn't matter. I was living my dream and having fun. Then, the next aspect of the game became clear - this was a grinding game, pure and simple. You walk around, catch Pokemon, and use them to strengthen your other Pokemon until you have them all - as well as every gym within walking distance. I think it was that grind that threw many players off.
Within a month, 15 million people had stopped playing. I don't really see this as the death of the game, though. Millions of people downloaded the game just to see what the craze was about. They played for a bit, had their taste, and left. I've done the same with dozens of games and I paid a lot more for them than a free download. So again, this didn't surprise me.
Since then, the road has certainly been rocky. The tracker was removed, then Niantic started to go after 3rd party trackers (I mean, you have a tracker in the game - your Pokedex - so why not have one here as well?), and there have been many issues with servers and a lack of features that would give the game longer legs - like trading and battling outside of gyms. Not to mention the constant delays behind the Pokemon Go Plus. Personally, I live in a small town with only a few PokeStops and not very many Pokemon spawn around here. I have been constantly struggling for Stardust to power up my team, but it's just not an easy thing to come by. Even now, I'm only level 15 after playing for an hour every day since release. And I only have 3 Pokeballs.
All of that being said, I can understand why many would think that the game has died. However, according to Thinkgaming.com's revenue tracker, Pokemon Go is still making nearly $2 million dollars per day and gaining an estimated 40,000 new installs every 24 hours. Pokemon Go made $200 million in its first month and has earned an estimated $600 million since its release. That doesn't sound like a dead game.
In addition to in-app sales, Nintendo has also stated that Pokemon Go has caused sales of their other systems and games to go up as well. I haven't owned a Nintendo system since the N64 and Gameboy Color, now I'm seriously considering a Switch because I'll hope to play these Pokemon games again. And it was Pokemon Go that instilled that desire in me. It's also what made me want to buy these Bulbasaur planters.
I can still easily find groups of people playing Pokemon Go at popular stops in town. The 3rd party tracking community is strong, with local Facebook groups made just to share spawn locations. I made a Pokestop and gym map for my region at game launch which is still receiving 30,000 visits a month. The game is far from dead, it's only those that downloaded the game out of curiosity that have left.
The game was glitchy, it drained my battery life faster than this year's elections have drained my hope in humanity, but it didn't matter. I was living my dream and having fun. Then, the next aspect of the game became clear - this was a grinding game, pure and simple. You walk around, catch Pokemon, and use them to strengthen your other Pokemon until you have them all - as well as every gym within walking distance. I think it was that grind that threw many players off.
Within a month, 15 million people had stopped playing. I don't really see this as the death of the game, though. Millions of people downloaded the game just to see what the craze was about. They played for a bit, had their taste, and left. I've done the same with dozens of games and I paid a lot more for them than a free download. So again, this didn't surprise me.
Since then, the road has certainly been rocky. The tracker was removed, then Niantic started to go after 3rd party trackers (I mean, you have a tracker in the game - your Pokedex - so why not have one here as well?), and there have been many issues with servers and a lack of features that would give the game longer legs - like trading and battling outside of gyms. Not to mention the constant delays behind the Pokemon Go Plus. Personally, I live in a small town with only a few PokeStops and not very many Pokemon spawn around here. I have been constantly struggling for Stardust to power up my team, but it's just not an easy thing to come by. Even now, I'm only level 15 after playing for an hour every day since release. And I only have 3 Pokeballs.
All of that being said, I can understand why many would think that the game has died. However, according to Thinkgaming.com's revenue tracker, Pokemon Go is still making nearly $2 million dollars per day and gaining an estimated 40,000 new installs every 24 hours. Pokemon Go made $200 million in its first month and has earned an estimated $600 million since its release. That doesn't sound like a dead game.
In addition to in-app sales, Nintendo has also stated that Pokemon Go has caused sales of their other systems and games to go up as well. I haven't owned a Nintendo system since the N64 and Gameboy Color, now I'm seriously considering a Switch because I'll hope to play these Pokemon games again. And it was Pokemon Go that instilled that desire in me. It's also what made me want to buy these Bulbasaur planters.
I can still easily find groups of people playing Pokemon Go at popular stops in town. The 3rd party tracking community is strong, with local Facebook groups made just to share spawn locations. I made a Pokestop and gym map for my region at game launch which is still receiving 30,000 visits a month. The game is far from dead, it's only those that downloaded the game out of curiosity that have left.
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