Pokemon GO has been out for just about a month now. And the game has quickly become the biggest game in mobile history and it’s continuing to break records. Today, the game passed 100 million downloads on Android alone. And that only accounts for those downloads from the Google Play Store. It’s likely that with other app stores (specifically in Asia), as well as Apple’s App Store, that Pokemon GO has likely doubled that number overall. That’s pretty impressive, hitting 100 million downloads on Google Play in just a month. Some apps take months and even years to hit that many downloads, if they ever reach that milestone. At this rate, unless the popularity of the game decreases at all, they will likely join the 1 billion club fairly soon – possibly before 2016 is over.
For those that have played Niantic Labs’ first mobile game, Ingress, you’re probably wondering why Pokemon GO has become so popular. After all, Ingress was not very popular at all. Although part of that was due to the game being Android only, and invite only, for quite some time. Niantic took most of the gameplay from Ingress and turned it into Pokemon GO. And thanks to Pokemon’s popularity over the past 20 years, Pokemon GO has experienced huge adoption. Not only are adults who grew up on Pokemon in the 90’s, but also those that are currently kids with smartphones are loving the game. Parents are loving it because their kids are getting exercise, instead sitting on the couch playing a game all summer. Definitely seems like a win/win for parents and kids alike.
Currently, there is only a fraction of the total number of Pokemon available in the game. So it’s likely that Niantic Labs could continue to push out updates to the game and roll out other features among more Pokemon. So they are able to continue capitalizing on the popularity of the game. Pokemon GO has shown no signs of fading off into obscurity, so it’s likely going to be around for quite some time. Let’s just hope that Niantic keeps it interesting, as there are some players that have already reached the highest level – level 40 – and captured all the available Pokemon.