Five things to know about this popular AR game: PokemonGo

Khevna.P.Shah, INN/Bangalore

@Shahkhevna1, @Infodeaofficial

Pokemon Go created by Niantic was a  huge success when the AR-based mobile title was launched in 2016. Pokemon Go wasn’t the first game to use Augmented Reality (AR)  mechanics to assist gameplay, games like Ingress also worked on this mechanism but unlike Pokemon Go, it wasn’t much popular.

The game celebrated its five-year anniversary on July 7, 2020, with an in-game event.  The event goes on until July 15, allowing its players to catch a flying Pikachu with a 5-shaped balloon among other Pokemon. There are five things to know about the game.

Pokemon Go thrived in the pandemic

The report from Sensor Tower suggests that Pokemon Go didn’t just survive during the initial pandemic hit in 2020 but also did well. And being an AR-game it encourages the players to go outside their homes to get indulged in the gameplay. Pokemon Go’s new updates made the game  ‘social-distance friendly’ for players. These updates played a major role in keeping the title afloat across 2020.

Pokemon Go  has around 600 Pokemon to catch

When the game started out in 2015, it was just with 150 first-generation Pokemon. Currently, the game has around 600 pocket monsters that players can catch and add to their Pokedex. The ever-expanding range does not end there and players in their journey can expect to catch all Pokemon along with the new additions that will continue to be added in the title with subsequent updates.

Online and in-person Pokemon Go fest

 On July 17, Pokemon Go is also hosting an online Pokemon Go fest across many regions in the world,  but only with selected cities and also with an in-person festival. The online Pokemon Go Fest will also be adding a new mythical Pokemon to a user’s Pokedex and allow players to catch either or Pikachu Pop Star or Pikachu Rock Star

Gen 7 Pokemon and MewTwo Mega Evolution coming

Pokemon Go’s Twitter handle recently tweeted a post celebrating the game’s five years and hinting that some more Pokemon will be introduced to the game like the Pokemon Rowlet, Litten, and Popplio in the post, all of which are from Pokemon: Sun & Moon. Players will also be spotting  Mega MewTwo X in the post, hinting at the addition of mega evolution coming to more Pokemon, including MewTwo.

$5 billion revenue since launch

Pokemon Go has reportedly brought in over $5 billion since the game’s launch, as per the Sensor Towers report. Averaging about a billion dollars in revenue each year, Pokemon Go even had players spend an aggregate of $1.3 billion in the pandemic-stricken 2020, crossing its own revenue record from 2019 by $400 million.