The president of Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara, explains why Pokémon GO became such a huge hit and names four reasons.
Pokémon GO, does anyone still play that? I frequently read this comment under our posts about Pokémon GO lately. Yes, Pokémon GO is still being played and the interest among young and old is far from extinguished. Pokémon GO had a spectacular launch and quickly became the biggest MMO of all time.
However, after the release, Niantic’s mobile game also experienced low points and became quite unpopular among players. This was mainly due to the fact that it took ages for Niantic to address the game’s issues and no longer kept the community in the dark. The search functions for Pokémon, which never really worked properly, were particularly problematic.
Despite the frustration that arose among some players and certainly led them to stop playing Pokémon GO, the game remained a phenomenon and is still widely popular. Just recently, Pokémon GO made it back to number 1 in the Android Store. But what exactly makes Pokémon GO so successful? The president of Pokémon GO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, provides answers.
For these reasons, Pokémon GO sparked the Pokédemy
Tsunekazu Ishihara is the president of Pokémon GO and produced the mobile game. He recently commented on what he believes makes the game a megahit. For him, there are four reasons that caused the game to take off.
Pokémon is a cross-generational success
Pokémon saw the light of day in 1996 and boomed from 1998 to 2000. The parents who gifted the first Pokémon games back then still have warm memories of their little ones sitting happily under the Christmas tree, choosing their first starter Pokémon with excited red cheeks. Today, at 50 to 60 years old, they themselves play Pokémon on their phones.
The little ones are now adults and associate these happy memories with themselves sitting under the Christmas tree. They see their childhood friends when they pick up Pokémon GO. This Pokémon boom 18 years ago laid the foundations for the cross-generational success of Pokémon GO.
Social media played a key role
Shortly after the release of Pokémon GO, photos and reports about it suddenly appeared everywhere on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Social media played a clear key role in the success of Pokémon GO and Pokémon overtook the internet.
According to Ishihara, it took Pokémon a whole two years to become a global success 18 years ago. But Pokémon GO developed into a phenomenon globally within a week and spread like a real Pokédemy.
Niantic is a unicorn and brings a global mentality
The term unicorn is a relatively new term in business and refers to startups that have an estimated value of one billion dollars. Niantic, the co-developer of Pokémon GO, is one such unicorn. Ishihara believes that these unicorns represent a global mentality and philosophy.
Although the number of players was 50 times larger than the developers had anticipated, the developers at Niantic worked day and night to keep the servers running as smoothly as possible. Ishihara was fascinated by Niantic’s strong will to make it work. It was like repairing the engines of an airplane that is already in the sky.
Information technology has evolved
The developments in recent years regarding information technologies have greatly contributed to the success of Pokémon GO. Especially through the widespread adoption of smartphones, location-based services are increasing continuously. These are mobile services that provide end users with location-dependent data or services.
A simple example would be an app that shows nearby restaurants. The fact that data transmission and bandwidth have significantly improved and developed in recent years made it possible to develop Pokémon GO.
Ishihara admitted that Pokémon GO was a risky venture. Because even if the reasons mentioned above all contributed to its success, it is even difficult for such an experienced Pokémon architect to create the magic formula for megahits today. In the case of Pokémon GO, it worked.
Niantic is making an effort to keep its players entertained. Until January 8, there is an increased chance to find the three starter Pokémon.
