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Pokemon GO, the popular augmented reality mobile game from Niantic, has been a huge hit ever since it was launched last month. Although the game is yet to find its way to critical markets like China, South Korea and India, it still managed to attract over 50 million users within just one month of its launch on iOS and Android. Thanks to its soaring popularity in the first few weeks of its release, the game became the fastest to hit 50 million downloads on the Play Store, and has since crossed even the 100 million threshold, making it one of the most popular mobile games ever. The game is also said to have earned $160 million in just the first 25 days after its release, and is expected to earn around a billion dollars within a year.
However, recent reports have indicated that the Pokemon GO phenomenon might have hit its peak. While it remains incredibly popular, the game seems to have lost the halo around it somewhat, and the daily sights of dozens of people in and around parks and malls battling for control of the Gym are becoming less ubiquitous by the day. However, even as the craze and the hype surrounding Pokemon GO seem to be plateauing, a number of studies claim that the game still draws between 30 and 40 million players on a daily basis. According to Mr. Daniel Ahmed, an analyst at Niko Partners, it is natural that the number of daily active users “will decrease over time and begin to level out at a much lower number.”
He also emphasized that even after several weeks of its launch, the fact that Pokemon GO has managed to retain so many of its dedicated players is an achievement in itself. According to him, “most mobile games will be lucky to retain 50% of their users after the first month.” So the latest studies showing a fall in the number of daily active users is really not something that Niantic should worry about. Instead of indicating a decline in the game’s popularity, those reports are actually a testament to the game’s staying power, notwithstanding all the sensationalist doomsday predictions in sections of the media. Pokemon GO continues to remain the top grossing app both on the Google Play Store as well as on Apple’s App Store, and is still one of the top five most-downloaded apps on the two marketplaces. While the people who were joining in just to find out what the fuss was all about are steadily moving away, dedicated mobile gamers and Pokemon aficionados are expected to continue their patronage of the game in the foreseeable future.