Pokemon Go is the biggest US mobile game ever, leaves Facebook and Twitter behind
Pokemon Go, the newly-launched famous Augmented Reality (AR) game by Niantic Labs, which has not only become the most sought after game to be downloaded but it also has overtaken Twitter in terms of daily users and has seen people spending more time on its app than on Facebook. It is also said to have surpassed dating app Tinder in terms of installs.
“By July 7, the app had been installed on more Android smartphones than the dating app,” Britain-based information technology firm SimilarWeb was quoted as saying.
In the meantime, US-based web-based survey solutions company, SurveyMonkey tracked Pokemon Go’s peak daily active users and said that Pokémon Go has claimed the title of “biggest mobile game in the US history”, leaving behind other popular mobile games, including Candy Crush, Clash Royale and Minecraft. According to SurveyMonkey, the app now has over 21 million daily active users, which is more than the 20 million peak figure recorded for Candy Crush Saga back in 2013.
“Within three days of its release, Pokémon GO attracted more users than Twitter, and rose to the top of the App Store revenue charts, earning millions of dollars a day for its publisher, Niantic,” the survey firm said in a blog post.
“As of yesterday, Pokemon GO attracted just under 21 million daily active users in the United States, surpassing Candy Crush saga’s rumored peak US smartphone audience of 20 million and making it the biggest mobile game in US history.”
To compare, Facebook’s app racked up an average 22 minutes of use, Snapchat drew 18 minutes and Twitter 17 minutes. The report also noted that Pokemon Go is now closing in on Snapchat on Android and the Pokemon Go Android application could even pass Google Maps on Android.
So, how does this game works?
The game uses the GPS capabilities of your smartphone in conjunction with Google Maps to “place” creatures in real world locations, which you then try to find them using your device as a guide.
Once you are in proximity to the “placed” creature, you then use your device’s camera to “view” the creature and try to “capture” it.
“This works with you using your device as a viewer to ‘see’ the creature near you by looking at an image from the camera with the creature superimposed on it. You then ‘capture’ the creature for points by throwing Poke Balls at it on the device’s screen,” Trend Micro stated.
The Pokemon Go is available on Google Playstore and Apple’s App Store in the US, Japan and Australia, Philippines, New Zealand. In just two days, Pokemon Go brought Nintendo’s market value to $7.5 billion. It is also worth noting that Pokemon Go already has more than 10 million installs on Android alone. The game is expected to soon arrive in India, Singapore, Germany, Taiwan, Indonesia and Britain.
