Pokemon Go has its largest active player base since Summer 2016, revenue up 174% year over year

Ultima_5 · Jun 26, 2018

Kudo said:
Just started playing this week ago, I feel kinda bad I missed the whole boom but I guess that's on me.

If you find popular spots I️n your town you can still experience some of it. I️ stopped at a park on my way home from work and there were like 8 people playing and said hi to each other and what not.

Hell there's hotspots in my city that you can still see dozens playing it. It's not the same as when it first came out and you'd see hundreds but it's still a nice experience. IN some ways it's improved. Like... I️ can put something in a gym and it doesn't get knocked out in 5 mins

Benzychenz · Jun 26, 2018

They're really making big strides to improve the game.

Weather has made spawns so much more varied, and the research task update made the game so much more engaging than its ever been.

WhiteRabbitEXE · Jun 26, 2018

Kudo said:
Just started playing this week ago, I feel kinda bad I missed the whole boom but I guess that's on me.

Head out to parks on community days (the bigger the better) and you'll get a really good taste of it. Next one is on the 8th.

patientzero · Jun 26, 2018

KillstealWolf said:
It's 90% of the world's money, not population (and boy does it show...)

Nope. Only about 800 million people live in the Southern Hemisphere, compared to 6.6 billion in the North.

icyflamez96 · Jun 26, 2018

Jaded Alyx said:
Well, there you Go.

good 1

Vareon · Jun 26, 2018

A lot of my friends played again and shared their friend code, some said they're "preparing" for Let's Go even. It's a good momentum.

UltraMagnus · Jun 26, 2018

You can also then understand a bit more why Nintendo is not happy with their smartphone app profits. Pokemon Go keeps reminding them with higher end revenue that they probably should be making more money, lol.

Lwill · Jun 26, 2018

After over 20 years, Pokemon continues to surpass expectations of its staying power.

Servbot24 said:
Doesn't explain the years of drought on Wii.

Off topic, but it was obviously due to them shifting their resources to 3DS and Wii U game development. They were having a rough time transitioning to a HD console.

Servbot24 · Jun 27, 2018

steviejd1 said:
Or you like moving goalposts.

What?

Arthands · Jun 27, 2018

So this "fad" game outlasted almost every console games released in that same year?

duckroll · Jun 27, 2018

Arthands said:
So this "fad" game outlasted almost every console games released in that same year?

I dunno what you mean by outlasted, but comparing two of the biggest service game launches in 2016, we would be looking at Overwatch and Pokemon Go. Both are still very successful.

guek · Jun 27, 2018

This is quite the long fad

CaviarMeths · Jun 27, 2018

patientzero said:
Nope. Only about 800 million people live in the Southern Hemisphere, compared to 6.6 billion in the North.

KillstealWolf is referring to the "economic north," which typically excludes China and India. By "north," they mean the US and Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and a few highly developed Asian markets like Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Using that gerrymandered-as-fuck map of the world, most people live in the "south," but most of the money is in the "north."

It's... kind of a weird distinction to bring up in this topic though. It's much easier to just say "most of the money is coming from highly developed countries," which... you know, yeah.

Limabean01 · Jun 27, 2018

sensui-tomo said:
Gonna bet the new switch games helped out a bit.... I'd play if i got a better phone (my current phone is an old phone and i'm saving money up for something nice to upgrade to)

Wasn't the let's go announcement at the end of may? If so it couldn't have had much of an effect if the announcement only existed for like 3 days of the tracking period mentioned.

ParanoidRED · Jun 27, 2018

RochHoch said:
Please don't let this garbage ruin the real mainseries Pokemon games, Gamefreak. I don't give a shit about how successful Go is or isn't, but it would kill me to watch one of my favorite franchises die due to mobile trash.

:lol

Kudo said:
Just started playing this week ago, I feel kinda bad I missed the whole boom but I guess that's on me.

God, it was so goddamn amazing in the first few months, don't think anything will ever top that feeling of going out and seeing litterally everyone playing together

takriel · Jun 27, 2018

People still play this... well, apparently they do.

The Great Khali · Jun 27, 2018

It has been hot here in he UK so I can see why some may check the game out. This was primarily a summer game going out for walk in the sunny days catching Pokémon was one of the biggest advatadva for this game when it first launched.

Teeny · Jun 27, 2018

So many new people have joined our FB/Discord based community in the last couple of weeks so, anecdotally, this bears out.

Lots of people are interested in the friendship feature and others have picked it up again due to the Let's Go announcement. Some relapsed players, some brand new to it.

And nothing will ever feel like that first month. When raiding came out and we were getting 20+ people for non-legendaries in our small town, that was close. The community days are also close. Those two things have been enough to keep me invested in the game and Niantic seem to be on a roll with their new feature release schedule. The Go Fest/Safari Zone stuff is coming up soon which sounds like it's going to be a massive event and we have already had some good ones this year already.

Poimandres · Jun 27, 2018

ParanoidRED said:
God, it was so goddamn amazing in the first few months, don't think anything will ever top that feeling of going out and seeing litterally everyone playing together

It was wild when it launched. Everyone was playing. Super exciting because people were still working out the systems etc, and there was the sense that you might find something new around every corner.

Sadly that faded for me once I realised how transparent most of it was, and how catching/battling were super dull. I still played for over a year mind you, but once all my friends stopped I realised having the app open constantly was more of a chore than anything else. I'll happily proclaim I only spent a single dollar on the game!

If there was more skill involved with taking down gyms, or more engaging things to do in the game I'd very likely still be playing.

Deleted member 9971 · Jun 27, 2018

Now they just need to add online friend battles and close people pvp battles and it's amazing.

Ereineon · Jun 27, 2018

Squiddo ᔦꙬᔨ said:
Now they just need to add online friend battles and close people pvp battles and it's amazing.

first they need to fix the battle system a bit xd (still 2 moves and messed up type damage values, but at least we know they can improve it :P)

Forkball · Jun 27, 2018

I see people playing nearly every day. It's very popular with middle aged and elderly people surprisingly. I play it every now and then, but I can't get into the gym and raid stuff since I don't like the battle system.

TheKeyPit · Jun 27, 2018

The Lets Go announcement made me download Go and try it.

Teeny · Jun 27, 2018

The battle system is poor, especially for anyone familiar with the main games.

The fun for me comes in taking down a gym with friends and then adding Pokemon according to a theme (colour, type and eeveelutions are easy ones, but sometimes they get more creative).

In terms of raids, most fun can be had by forming team to solo up to tier 3 bosses or short-manning those higher. Nothing more satisfying than taking down a Tyranitar with one buddy right at the last second when it took 12+ people to defeat the boss right when raiding started.

The most frustrating element is how small the pool of meta-relevant Pokemon are. Abilities, hold items, a less mashy battle system and a stat shakeup are sorely needed to add some variety to the meta.

doublechocochip · Jun 27, 2018

There still isn't much to do if you don't live in a big city or in a college area. I can barely find any Pokemon where I live.

Hoo-doo · Jun 27, 2018

I got dragged outside by friends during a recent community event here in my city and damn, this game is still huge. And this was last week or so.
I saw countless, countless people playing the game outside. They were everywhere. Some in groups, some in pairs, some of them alone. Old folks, parents with their children, teens and twenty-somethings, it really didn't matter.

This game ain't going anywhere.

Teeny · Jun 27, 2018

Hoo-doo said:
I got dragged outside by friends during a recent community event here in my city and damn, this game is still huge. And this was last week or so.
I saw countless, countless people playing the game outside. They were everywhere. Some in groups, some in pairs, some of them alone. Old folks, parents with their children, teens and twenty-somethings, it really didn't matter.

This game ain't going anywhere.

Yup. The core community are now in it for the long haul. Not even hitting level 40 has slowed the top players down - a few of them are still competing in terms of XP gained! Plus all of the new features have been met with open arms and it doesn't look like they are going to slow down either.

The game in it's initial form was barebones and basically a beta. As it is now, it's quite a nice package and there is sure to be more in the pipeline.

Personally, I'm hoping for point of interest submissions soon and then the community can get to work on improving those rural areas or places that didn't have an Ingress community originally.

The Great Khali · Jun 27, 2018

I just hate the battle system in this game.

If this had standard turnbased battle I would have been all over this game, what a shame.

Serebii · Jun 27, 2018

Teeny said:
Yup. The core community are now in it for the long haul. Not even hitting level 40 has slowed the top players down - a few of them are still competing in terms of XP gained! Plus all of the new features have been met with open arms and it doesn't look like they are going to slow down either.

The game in it's initial form was barebones and basically a beta. As it is now, it's quite a nice package and there is sure to be more in the pipeline.

Personally, I'm hoping for point of interest submissions soon and then the community can get to work on improving those rural areas or places that didn't have an Ingress community originally.

Yeah you just need to compare the events of this year to the events of last year. It shows there's a lot of do.

Adventure Week 2017 had increased Rock-type spawns and a new hat
Adventure Week 2018 had increased Rock-type spawns, new shinies of Omanyte, Omastar, Kabuto, Kabutop & Aerodactyl, Special Rock-type Raid Battles, Special Field Research focused on Rock-type Pokémon and special item boxes to encourage people to spend money to keep playing. This was compounded by the release of Shiny Ho-Oh as a Legendary Raid battle chance which also caused people to do more Raid Battles.

Teeny · Jun 27, 2018

Yep! The events have also been non-stop this year so far, there is very little space between them. What was it like a week between Adventure Week and the Water Event which saw a corresponding change in spawns, raid bosses and research rewards plus new shinies to hunt? And before that, earlier in the year, was the research stuff which had everybody going crazy for Mew? There's no shortage of event content even without new features.

Jessie · Jun 27, 2018

There's a lot to do, and we haven't even gotten to the crazy Legendary wave yet. Gen 4 is when things get wild.

And then Gen 5 introduces another 150 Pokémon. Woah boy.

Bedameister · Jun 27, 2018

They really improved the game a lot in the last months. Let's Go announcement and the new friend/trading update really got a lot of people back and also new players. It's really cool to see. I think I will still this game daily for years to come.

Teeny · Jun 27, 2018

Jessie said:
There's a lot to do, and we haven't even gotten to the crazy Legendary wave yet. Gen 4 is when things get wild.

And then Gen 5 introduces another 150 Pokémon. Woah boy.

I think the next gen releases are going to be a lot more exclusive in terms of what spawns are available regionally in in which biomes. Trading has been predominantly about filling in those missing dex entries and getting shinies/unown forms. Once that's done, they will want us to have incentive to trade on a regular basis.

klauskpm · Jun 27, 2018

The game really is going really well. Adding features and events constantly, having things to do everyday all day. They just released friend's list and it is awesome.

I just keep imagining what they need to do to release the version 1. For context, the game is at version 0.170.1.

Serebii · Jun 27, 2018

Teeny said:
Yep! The events have also been non-stop this year so far, there is very little space between them. What was it like a week between Adventure Week and the Water Event which saw a corresponding change in spawns, raid bosses and research rewards plus new shinies to hunt? And before that, earlier in the year, was the research stuff which had everybody going crazy for Mew? There's no shortage of event content even without new features.

Not even that. It was 2 days

klauskpm said:
The game really is going really well. Adding features and events constantly, having things to do everyday all day. They just released friend's list and it is awesome.

I just keep imagining what they need to do to release the version 1. For context, the game is at version 0.170.1.

I think the version numbers are irrelevant to the whole thing.

Gespenst MKIV · Jun 27, 2018

I live in a small city with only one pokestop nearby and no gym, so I use it mostly as an incentive to going for walks and it works, it's slow but some day I'm getting my charizard

Vareon · Jun 27, 2018

Ereineon said:
first they need to fix the battle system a bit xd (still 2 moves and messed up type damage values, but at least we know they can improve it :P)

I'm under the impression that battle system isn't something they're teying to "fix". It's never meant to reach the complexity of main game's battles anyway.

ByteCulture · Jun 27, 2018

I imagined a new battle system like the one "Jurassic Park Alive" offers.

1. You choose a team of, i dont know, maybe 6 Pokemon?
2. You can only change your active team at Pokemon Center which offers you a trade channel like in the TV Shows. (You can sent your active pokemon to Oak and you can get other Pokemon from him)
3. Everytime you encounter a wild Pokemon the battle starts.
4. You can choose up to 3 Pokemon to defeat it. Every Pokemon has 3 attacks like in the games. (SLeep powder puts the wild pokemon asleep for one turn etc)
5. Raid Bosses will need you to team up with others and you can use all the 6 pokemon. Every participant can choose one attack and after that its the turn of the raidboss. All pokemon attack at the same time. (for example bulbasaur can put him to sleep for one turn. Attacks are speed based. Quick hit will attack first, Sleep Powder last for example. After that the boss can sleep one turn and does not attack)
6. Raid Bosses will just do AoE damage to everyone like Earthquakes and other stuff. I
6. Dead pokemon needs to be revived at Pokemon Center and you can only heal on the go with potions.

Maybe you can change your active team on the go but you need to revive your Pokemon at a Pokemon Center. Just hand out revive Potions but make them rare.

Serebii · Jun 27, 2018

Vareon said:
I'm under the impression that battle system isn't something they're teying to "fix". It's never meant to reach the complexity of main game's battles anyway.

The more complex it gets, the more it alienates the general consumer

ffvorax · Jun 27, 2018

I played for the first two months then dropped it... installed out of curiosity last months, already cancelled again.
I saw many improvements from the beginning, so I think... deserved success?
Not for me though, after the love at start... i'm more a single player guy, and not have time to travel to catch pokemons ....

Tygre · Jun 27, 2018

The Let's Go announcement really brought people back.

It's not launch levels, but the number of people playing around my town is noticeable again.

TheRuralJuror · Jun 27, 2018

MELLO said:
Thats good for them

Pokemon lets go is going to do numbers.
I feel sorry for everyone who hates it.
The success is going to hurt your soul

#Haiku

I don't care for it, but it's sales performance certainly shouldn't hurt any souls unless you're crazy. Lol

klauskpm · Jun 27, 2018

Serebii said:
Not even that. It was 2 days

I think the version numbers are irrelevant to the whole thing.

For the whole topic? Yeah. Just wanted to know what is holding then off to call it a stable and finished product. In SemVer(semantic versioning) the 1.0.0 nomenclature is a big step. Normally it follows with big announcements. That's why I find interesting to think about what is holding them off.

gordofredito · Jun 27, 2018

KillstealWolf said:
Those players are going to be annoyed when they learn they can't transfer 2/3rds of their Pokemon to let's go.

And that those they do transfer are one way only. With only a single Pokemon that can be transferred back.

Not even 1/8th of those players will buy a console or a fully priced game, so I doubt it

LemonLime · Jun 27, 2018

Kudo said:
Just started playing this week ago, I feel kinda bad I missed the whole boom but I guess that's on me.

Just wait for community day! It's held monthly and depending on where you go you'll see huge crowds of people playing! During June's community I went to Boston Commons and almost everyone there was playing!

Skittzo · Jun 27, 2018

gordofredito said:
Not even 1/8th of those players will buy a console or a fully priced game, so I doubt it

... 1/8th of Pokemon GO players is 100 million, of course they're not all going to buy a Switch and Let's Go.

Teeny · Jun 27, 2018

Serebii said:
Not even that. It was 2 days

How quickly did I forget lol. I'm happy with the current period of respite tbh.

gordofredito said:
Not even 1/8th of those players will buy a console or a fully priced game, so I doubt it

Doesn't even have to be 1/8 to make a difference - don't underestimate the active player base. I've said it before but there are a lot of people in my community interested in Let's Go with a fair number of us definitely picking it up. Some already have Switches but a lot don't or have picked one up recently in anticipation of the game.

A mother bought a Switch and Pokken because of Pokemon Go, just to play more Pokemon; Let's Go has way more appeal I suspect.

ZiggyPalffyLA · Jun 27, 2018

How do y'all find people to do raids with? I live in a city with 100k+ people and I don't know anyone else who plays. nor do I ever see groups of people doing raids.

Skittzo · Jun 27, 2018

ZiggyPalffyLA said:
How do y'all find people to do raids with? I live in a city with 100k+ people and I don't know anyone else who plays. nor do I ever see groups of people doing raids.

I ran into a group of people at a raid one day and asked them if they were part of a facebook group or something, and they were.

I guess it's hard if you never see anyone at a raid though.

GuEiMiRrIRoW · Jun 27, 2018

Never left...

Pokemon Go has its largest active player base since Summer 2016, revenue up 174% year over year

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