It goes without saying that Pokemon GO took the world by storm when it released in July of 2016, allowing players to go outside and explore like never before in a mobile game. And for the next month or so that followed, it seemed as though the world was transported back to the time in the 90s appropriately dubbed "Pokemania" by many, as the Pokemon craze seemed to be completely revived.
However, as time went on, Pokemon GO's player base gradually began to dwindle, losing 79% of its core users just nearly two months after its initial release. This was largely in part due to a complete lack of content left for players to enjoy after they had completed what they could of their Kanto Pokedex, and this trend of a drop in users continued well into 2017.
2018, on the other hand, seemed to mark a turning point for the game, adding many long awaited features. Pokemon GO finally added trading, a friends list, and even more new Pokemon for players to catch and discover, putting the game's player base at its highest since 2016. Continuing a flow of new content and features through 2019 and into 2020, Pokemon GO is now being recognized for its efforts to make the game as accessible as possible during this unpredictable year.
In its annual App Store Awards announcement, Apple awarded Pokemon GO with a Trend of the Year award for Reinventing Play, recognizing the game for reinventing itself at a time when its core gameplay values were challenged. As COVID-19 forced people all over the world to stay indoors for their safety, it was clear that this pandemic would pose a problem for the mobile game focused on going outside, exploring, and connecting with others. And as opposed to waiting out the pandemic, Niantic decided to react by making a plethora of changes in Pokemon GO in order to accommodate worldwide stay-at-home orders.
Even with these play-at-home changes made just about 3 months into 2020, Pokemon GO still had its most profitable year ever. The game added many bonuses and held a variety of in-game-shop sales to keep players hooked, even when stuck at home. Some of these bonuses included increasing the duration of the Incense item, increases in the amount of Pokemon that would spawn in the wild, XP and Stardust bonuses, a decrease in the walking distance needed to hatch Eggs, and most significantly, the addition of Remote Raid Passes, which allowed players to both join and invite players to nearby raids from the comfort of their homes.
Now kicking off its Season of Celebration Event and introducing a new generation of Pokemon to the game just this week, Pokemon GO shows no signs up letting up as 2020 comes to a close. Players can be sure that Niantic will do whatever it can to ride its recent wave of success into the coming year.
Pokemon GO is out now for Android and iOS mobile devices.