With the release of Pokémon GO, the hype surrounding the monster-catching franchise was brought to the same level it once had two decades ago. 1996 was brought into 2016, except this time around the kids have become adults, and finally there were, in a way, living their childhood dream through augmented reality. Everyone familiar with Pikachu and friends were flocking to almost anywhere with PokeStops like Zubats; the ordinary, everyday locations they go to every day, they began seeing with new eyes – that of a Pokémon trainer; and the borders of the real world and the Pokémon world have been blurred. But as time went on, the dream has ended, the old that became new has become old again, and the two realms have begun drifting back apart for even the most stoked Pokemon fanatics. Pokémon GO is losing its luster.
Numbers and Reasons
In a turn of events that had been foreseen early on, there has been a sharp decline of users, from 45 million in July down to a bit over 30 million in the first few days of August – that’s over 15 million users in just a span of a few weeks. And the trend is expected to continue, as downloads, engagement, and the length of time users spend on the app have also been markedly getting lower. There are many possible reasons behind the downturn. Some say that it’s because of the recent massive banning Niantic did to Pokemon GO accounts that use bots, while others claim that it’s because of the changes Niantic made with the app. Without announcing beforehand, the company made Pokémon harder to catch in general, and much harder to find by doing away with the tracking feature, which lets players see how close they are to nearby Pokémon. These challenge-upping alterations didn’t break the game, but they were enough to make the players who didn’t like the change quit, as well as those who didn’t like the fact that the developer didn’t inform them of these updates early on.
A more sentimental and equally sensible assertion behind the massive drop of Pokémon GO’s numbers would be what a lot of people claim as the game’s insipidity of its central premise: catching Pokemon. Trainers catch hundreds of Rattatas and Pidgeys for the sake of catching them and gaining EXP to level up and catch more powerful Pokemon (more powerful Rattatas and Pidgeys) for the sake of catching them once again – the Pokemon-themed, augmented reality-powered version of the same eternal grind that has plagued many smartphone RPGs in the past. The faction-based (Team Mystic, Instinct, and Valor) and gym-capturing aspect could’ve given the game variety and a sense of competition, but its tapping-based battle system and the reward for winning, which is a short-lived Gym Leader status, are not deep and satisfying enough to keep the Pokémon trainers coming back for more.
No-Soul Searching
While all those probable reasons make a great deal of sense, I believe that the ultimate reason behind the gradual decline of Pokemon GO is something Justin Hui of youth.sg said: “Because Pokémon GO doesn’t build on how you feel about your Pokémon, the game lacks soul.” And by soul, he means truly becoming a Pokemon trainer and not just some Pokemon catcher, like in GO. In the main games, raising the Pokemon you’ve caught is worth the time, effort, and care poured into it, as you see them become more powerful and evolve. But with GO, the gains of feeding Pokemon candies are easily dwarfed by the CPs of those caught at higher trainer levels. This has caused players to adopt a cold, pragmatic strategy, one that entails ditching weaker Pokemon for more powerful ones rather than growing – and growing with – the former.
Since people would rather leave their Squirtle, Charmander, and Bulbasaur be and go for more powerful Pokemon they’ll find later on since growing their starters – or any other Pokemon for that matter – through candies is hard and hardly pays off, people fail to make an emotional connection with them. No shared journey, struggles, triumphs and defeats, and ups and downs. Then again, Pokemon GO wasn’t designed to be exactly like the core games, but could a game under the monster-catching and monster-loving franchise succeed without its central element: the bond between trainer and Pokemon? Well, regardless of whether it’s a yes or a no, a little heart goes a long, long way, and it definitely won’t hurt GO to reward trainers who choose to raise their Pokemon than simply replace them.
Future Gains
But despite the game continuing to lose players and lacking essential elements that made true fans love the franchise, Pokemon GO is far from dead. Thirty million users is still a massive number – an understatement – and Niantic still has so many new features to add to the game, as it’s still in its early stages. The latest feature that has been added is an IV checker, as players can now ask their respective team leaders – Candela for Valor, Blanche for Mystic, and Spark for Instinct – to appraise the IVs of their Pokemon; hopefully this would encourage people to keep what they catch and invest in it time-wise, effort-wise, and emotionally instead of perpetuating the cycle of replacing Pokemon with those that have higher CPs.
And for the near future, they have already confirmed that trading will come soon, and that it might go with a Friends’ list system. Another up and coming feature is the global leaderboards and Pokemon battles with friends and strangers – that means you can now vie to be the very best like no one ever was, objectively, be it in the entire world or in just your neighborhood. Mew and Mewtwo are also slated to hit the streets, but the two legendary psychic Pokemon will be released as an event. And last but not least, although it’s merely speculation at this point, Gen II Pokemon will be released sometime in 2017. It’s a not-so-unlikely next step, as the players and the game can only do so much with 151 Pokemon. And unless you’re a genwunner, the Johto Pokemon are just as worthy of love as their Kanto counterparts.
Question is; will these new and prospective additions be enough to create a more solid user base that will not fall away once the reinvigorated novelty wears off? Unless we’re Psychic-type Pokemon, Arceus, or Dialga, we’ll never know. That’s alright though, because the Pokemon games have always been full of beautiful mysteries. That of GO, however, lies not in the game world’s lore, but in how players experience and enjoy this rather one-of-a-kind and innovative app. And a lot of work still needs to be done, as well as better ideas to come into fruition, to make the game leave a special mark in the hearts and minds of trainers all across the globe. Hopefully Niantic will be able to pour all of that into GO and finally turn it into the Pokemon GO every trainer wants, needs, and deserves.
6 Comments
bots bots everywhere
HAHAHAHAHA
time to release those legendary pokemons, PvP and Trade features plus a suggested daily bonus to keep players active
I think one of the reasons are the bots and the cheaters and the fact that when you play in a place thats far away from town all you find is ratatatatatatata -_-
Nailed it with the emotional investment part.
#PokeLand is now stealing more players. They’re switching to this game in the last 48hrs even if the is not yet officially released. ^_^