2 years of the world phenomenon called Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go was the main mobile phenomenon in the history of mobile applications. Thousands of people took to the streets, alone or in groups, to catch the creatures scattered on our squares, beaches, shopping centers and main avenues. The video game of Nantic had marked a before and after for the titles of smartphones . Today we celebrate his first 2 years on the market

The Beginnings of the Phenomenon

The Augmented Reality Video Game was born from a snap between Nintendo and Google . In early April 2013, the two companies launched the Pokémon Challenge, in which you must "capture" 720 creatures spread on Google Maps. This initiative (launched by the April Fool) was well received by netizens and marked the future of the game and the conformation of its developer, Niantic.

Pokémon Go was launched on the international market in a staggered way between different countries in the months of July and August in order not to saturate the servers. On July 6, the United States would receive the official version of the application with Australia and New Zealand. Latin America did not want to be left out and it got the form of accessing these services under the download by alternative means of these international applications. After these activities were known to Niantic, there was a general blockage to these actions and accounts created in the devices with illegal apps were blocked. Our region would officially receive Pokemon Go in the early days of August.

The mobile operators took advantage of the context and launched promotional plans in which they specified that Pokémon Go would not consume the mega of the internet contract; that is, you can play it freely and for free without fear of running out of network. The historic center of Lima, the Parque de las Leyendas, the magical water circuit, the big shopping centers and the public roads in general were filled with people eager to get the 150 creatures of the first generation. The media have already reported theft, the national police showed the 10 most dangerous points in Lima and the municipality of La Punta said that in their district there would be schedules established only to play Pokémon Go. Total madness.

The months passed and although the events and the so-called "raids" had come, the fans began to get bored. Not being able to fight against other coaches, not being able to swap Pokemon and the repetitive catching method annoyed the fanatic who was leaving to abandon the video game since the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017.

did not have the ability to build loyalty C & # 39; was very limited in mechanics: what you could do as a player was little: hunt, control gyms and collect objects, but it was very little options, they ran away quickly "

Aarón Rodríguez, author of " Ludological Design and Augmented Reality. "The Game Experience in Pokémon Go!"

It's not not dead, he is out of the pop

Even though the media fever has decreased, the video game developers are doing their best to revive the flame of Pokémon Go in the second anniversary of launch . With the arrival of creature exchanges, alola forms and third generation Pokémon, the mobile title has managed to recover its highest peak of players since the end of 2016 and reach the figure of 800 millions of downloads.

We are not in the best of times, but the fact that Nintendo still maintains the formula and wants to continue working directly with Pokémon Go (as the announcement of Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's go, Eevee !, Titles that will allow creature change directly with mobile users) reflects the great love that Nintendo has to the game. And it's worth remembering that 80% of the profits of the last 2 years of the Japanese society are due to him.

Pokémon Go will have special activities in July. First and foremost, and as expected, will be Pikachu as the special character, receiving a beach look with sunglasses and a hat. In addition, Celebi will arrive in an event in which you will have to go out with your friends and start your search, although little information has been detailed about it.

Finishing, it must be said that the game is not dead it is thought, it only left the mainstream of the general population. It continues to generate, continues to renew and continues to captivate millions of people who have not left the title. Niantic has already realized a phenomenon, but needs a new, revolutionary and strong feature to return to its former days.

Tell us, did you play or even play Pokémon Go? What motivated him to leave him?