Remember Pokémon Go? Well, it is still around, and while not as popular, it has a good number of players. However, think back 10 years ago when the game first came out in July of 2016. It wasn’t an immediate hit just yet, but as the days and weeks came, it became a surefire blast, and then it faded out of existence. Let’s take a walk back in memory lane and see how this game exploded and then just became normal.
Eruption of popularity
When the game first came out, it kinda blew people’s minds. That’s because it had something that wasn’t common in Pokémon games at the time. This was being able to walk around in real life and capture Pokémon that were spawning in their local areas. It was sort of like a real-life virtual reality sim.
That’s when the game exploded in popularity. For starters, it was free, so anyone with a capable phone or mobile device at the time could download and play the game for free. This made a lot of people go out in public areas and some even close to private areas, just to capture a Pokémon. Some of these Pokémon were rare spawns, so once someone had it, people would flock to that area in hopes of catching one.
Massive numbers of people outdoors
The craze brought everyone and anyone outside their houses. You had people who weren’t even fans of the game play it because it did have a certain kind of fun to it. Reports on the news were of people in masses being out in parks or in heritage sites or special locations. This was good but at the same time bad in some instances.
The bad side of things
While getting outside was good, the mass number of people sometimes caused inconvenience to those who weren’t playing the game. There were also reports of people getting hit by vehicles because they weren’t paying attention.
The worst ones were that people were getting robbed at Poke Stops because the criminals would set lures. These lures would lure in more Pokemon to the area. Unfortunately, these criminals would then jump on these players and rob them.
Massive income and opportunities
In the first few months, the game would earn around $900 million and even over a billion. This is due to players paying for some of the store items. You don’t need to buy them, but people love to spend and get an edge. Some opportunities were helpful to business owners. They would capitalize on the players near their establishments to sell their goods. Everybody won during the craze.
Why the craze died down and how is the game today
It was a fad; the game was popular perhaps for close to a year. By then, the casual players left and moved on to different things. Only those who were fans and hardcore players stuck with the game. Over the years, more updates were added to keep the interest going. More Pokémon from later Generations and Legendaries were added. The game isn’t a hit as it was back then, but it’s 10 years later, and they are still kicking. Who knows, maybe the game will last another 10 years; after all, Pokémon is now over 30 years old.
