Software:Pokémon Go

Short description: 2016 mobile game

Pokémon Go
Game logo
Developer(s)	Niantic (2016–2025) Scopely (2025–present)
Publisher(s)	Niantic (2016–2025) Scopely (2025–present)
Director(s)	Tatsuo Nomura
Producer(s)	Steve Wang
Designer(s)	Matthew Ein Junichi Masuda
Programmer(s)	Game Freak
Artist(s)	Dennis Hwang Yusuke Kozaki Mieke Hutchins
Composer(s)	Junichi Masuda
Series	Pokémon
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	iOS, Android
Release	July 6, 2016 NA/AU: July 6, 2016 EU: July 13, 2016 JPN: July 22, 2016 IND: December 14, 2016
Genre(s)	Augmented reality, location-based game

Pokémon Go (stylized as Pokémon GO) is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game initially developed and released in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. It uses the GPS on mobile devices to find, catch, train, and fight Pokémon, and it imitates the player's actual location. The game is free-to-play; it uses a freemium business model merged with local advertising and supports in-app purchases for extra in-game items and additionally hosts remote and live events. The game debuted with around 150 species, with more species being added gradually.

Pokémon Go received conflicting feedback when it was released; critics praised the concept but criticized its technical issues. It was one of the most frequently used and profitable mobile apps in 2016, being downloaded over 500 million times globally by the year's end. It is recognized for popularizing location-based and AR technology to the extent of promoting physical and social activity. However, it has also faced criticism for contributing to accidents and creating public nuisances. Various governments have voiced security concerns, and some countries regulate its use. By May of 2018, the game had over 147 million monthly active users and more than one billion downloads worldwide by early 2019 and had earned more than $6 billion in revenue by 2020. It is considered among the best mobile games of all time.

Gameplay

Players must navigate the real world to move on the game map and find PokéStops, depicted as the small circular objects or cube icons, depending on their proximity to the player (usually blue for PokéStops that haven't been visited and purple for PokéStops that have). Additionally, players can locate gyms, which are represented by the large towers.

When a player encounters a Treecko in augmented reality mode, a Poké Ball must be "thrown" to capture it by pressing on the ball and flicking it up or curving it towards the Pokémon and then releasing after the motion.

Augmented reality gaming

See also: Augmented reality

After creating an account via one of the provided methods, players can customize their personal avatars, this can be remain as the default avatar and is completely optional to modify. An avatar appears on the game map based on the player's GPS location. "PokéStops" and "Pokémon Gyms" are features on the map. There are also "Lure Modules" that these PokéStops can be equipped with to attract more wild, and occasionally, rare Pokémon. Gyms function as battlefields for team-based king of the hill matches. PokéStops and Gyms are typically located at places of interest. These locations were initially re-purposed portals from Ingress, Niantic's previous augmented reality (AR) game. This has caused the placement of certain Pokémon Gyms and PokéStops in dangerous or inconvenient locations, such as a now removed Gym at the Korean Demilitarized Zone and Bagram Airforce Base, which the U.S. forces abandoned in July 2021. Since 2019, these locations also include submissions from Go players, which a significant number of other players review.

Players' avatars move on the game's map to correspond with their real location while they travel their real-world environment. Different Pokémon species reside in different areas of the world; for example, Water-type Pokémon are generally located close to water. When a player encounters a Pokémon, it can be viewed with a live-rendered, generic background or in augmented reality mode. AR mode uses the camera and gyroscope on the player's mobile device to display a live image of a Pokémon as if it were in the real world. Whether or not the AR function is enabled, players can capture screenshots, or "Snapshots", of the Pokémon that they encounter.

Although the game is free-to-play, it supports in-app purchases, where players can purchase in-game items such as additional Poké Balls. These items include Incense, which attracts Pokémon to the player as they travel for sixty minutes; Lure Modules, which players apply to a PokéStop to attract Pokémon to that PokéStop for thirty minutes; and Lucky Eggs, which, for 30 minutes after use, doubles experience points (XP) earned. All Pokémon are displayed with a Combat Power (CP), which is a factor in the measurement of how powerful that Pokémon is in battle. Generally, as players level up, they catch Pokémon with higher CP, and these Pokémon are somewhat more challenging to capture. The "Appraisal" feature allows the user to check how strong their Pokémon are.

Avatar customization

Players can customize their avatar's appearance with clothing options that change in availability according to season, player level, and in-game sponsors or events. Clothing includes: hats, accessories, tops, bottoms, socks, footwear and bags. Most clothing aligns with either the appearance of a specific Pokémon, a specific team and/or the Pokémon region. Many pieces of clothing are free; however, some items can also be purchased with Coins, which can be earned during select events, awarded when the player levels up, or received as a prize for Special Research completion.

Another method for a player to customize their avatar is with a pose. Similar to clothes, poses can be free, purchased, or awarded. Some poses are event-based and can only be obtained during the duration of the event they are linked to. After the event concludes, there is no guarantee that the pose will reappear in-game again.

In April 2024, Pokémon GO released an update to allow more flexible customization of player avatars. Customization now includes a limited number of different hairstyles, the ability to adjust the avatar's body size, and increased skin tone variations. This update created widespread criticism from the player base, as the new avatars were thought to have lower-quality graphics in comparison to the previous models, and because the updated models interfered with some post-update cosmetic items, of which players had purchased a large amount.

Pokémon collection

Unlike most other installments in the Pokémon series, players in Pokémon GO do not battle against wild Pokémon to capture them. During an encounter with a wild Pokémon, a Poké Ball can be thrown towards the Pokémon by flicking it up toward the Pokémon from the bottom of the screen and instantly releasing after doing so. If the Pokémon is caught, it will now belong to the player. Factors in the success rate of catching a Pokémon include the Pokémon's catch rate, the timing, the variant of Poké Ball that was used, etc. After capturing a wild Pokémon, the player is awarded two different types of in-game currency: Candy and Stardust. The Candies awarded by a successful capture are determined by the evolutionary chain to which the Pokémon belongs. Players can increase a Pokémon's level and hence, its "Combat Power" (CP) by using Stardust and Candy. However, only Candies are required to evolve a Pokémon, besides the Pokémon that require special items or conditions in order to evolve. Each Pokémon evolution tree has its own type of Candy, which is limited to leveling up or evolving that Pokémon. Originally set at level 40, the maximum level a player can reach was increased to level 50 on November 30, 2020, and then raised again to level 80 from a leveling update on October 15, 2025. The player can also transfer the Pokémon back to Professor Willow (which causes the removal of that Pokémon from their collection) to obtain more Candy and make space for another Pokémon. Shiny Pokémon can be found in a variety of ways, usually through chance or a "Community Day". A common goal for many players is to finish the entire Pokédex, which is a detailed Pokémon logbook that you can complete by catching and evolving all of the Pokémon inside.

In September 2016, Niantic introduced a feature named "Buddy Pokémon". This feature enables players to choose a Pokémon from their collection to display on their profile screen and accompany their avatar during gameplay and receive bonuses plus in-game items depending on the Pokémon they have selected. The feature was released later that month. Pokémon have different distances that they need to travel with the player in order to receive Candy. The player can earn more Candy the more they walk in real time. During the same update, Niantic added a feature to prevent players with rooted or jailbroken devices from logging into the game in an effort to reduce and prevent cheating.

On January 20, 2018, Pokémon Go hosted the first Community Day, a monthly event that increases a featured Pokémon's spawn rate and provides an exclusive attack for the Pokémon's last evolution if it was completely evolved during the event. Players also have an increased chance of catching the featured Pokémon's Shiny version. The first Community Day featured Pikachu, with the exclusive attack Surf if evolved to Raichu during the event.

Pokémon availabilities

New Pokémon are frequently added to the game, and there are 884 Pokémon in the game as of February 11, 2025 (including regional variants) from a total 1,025 within the entire Pokémon franchise.

Regional Pokémon are often released simultaneously, such as the Unova region Pokémon (as well as the Unova Stone item) released in September 2019.

During special events or quests, Mythical and Legendary Pokémon are frequently released on their own (or in pairs or trios). The first Legendary Pokémon released was Groudon, in December 2017. Meltan and its evolved form, Melmetal, are the only Mythical Pokémon to have made their debut on Pokémon Go. Their release coincided with the release of Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! on the Nintendo Switch. Pokémon Go introduced the new Mythical Pokémon Meltan originally as a teaser, later to be accessible to capture only from Pokémon Go via a "Mystery Box" item that could be acquired by completing new Research Tasks, moving Pokémon from Pokémon Go to Pokémon HOME, or moving Pokémon to Nintendo Switch Pokémon games.

In August 2020, Mega Evolution arrived in Pokémon Go with four different Pokémon able to Mega Evolve into five different forms. The feature has expanded to include 40 forms.

Battle system

Gyms and Raids

Players earn experience points (XP) for various in-game activities. Players rise in level as they earn experience points (XP), with various features being progressively unlocked through the leveling system. Most notably, at level five, the player acquires the ability to battle at a Pokémon Gym, and they get to decide which of the three color-coded teams, (red for Team Valor), (blue for Team Mystic), or (yellow for Team Instinct), to join, which act as factions battling for domination of Gyms within the Pokémon Go universe.

In June 2017, Niantic announced that Gyms' game mechanics would be revamped for a more teamwork-oriented experience; Gyms were disabled on June 19, 2017, with the new Gyms being made available a few days later with the next application update. As of the update, Gyms included a spinnable component (PokéStop) for players to receive in-game items such as Potions and Poké Balls. Additionally, Gyms are capped at holding six Pokémon, all of which must be a different Pokémon in that Gym. Coins are now earned according to the duration that the defending Pokémon survived in a Gym, as opposed to the 10-coin daily gym defender bonus for each Pokémon currently protecting. Legendary, Mythical and Buddy Pokémon cannot be placed in Gyms. In July 2017, Raid Battles were introduced. Raid Battles consist of players gathering to battle an over-leveled Pokémon located in a Gym. If the Pokémon is defeated, the players gain the opportunity to catch a regular version of it. Raid difficulties range from 1 to 5, with 1 being the least challenging and 5 representing the most challenging. Level 5 raids are exclusive to Legendary Pokémon. The first Legendary Pokémon, Articuno and Lugia, were released on July 22, 2017, after the Go Fest, with Moltres and Zapdos following shortly after. From September to November, the 3 Legendary Beasts, Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, were made available, rotating regions every month. Following their departure, the Legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh appeared in Raid Battles from November 27, 2017, to December 12, 2017. In August 2020, level 3 Mega raids arrived with the introduction of Mega Evolution. At the same time, Level 2 and 4 raids were merged into Level 1 and 3 raids.

In May 2022, Raid Battles were updated to include the addition of Mega Legendary Pokémon, which were turned to 6 stars, the highest in the game currently. The only Pokémon included in these Raids were Mega Latias and Mega Latios.

In October 2022, a new form of raid battle called "Elite Raids" was introduced. Elite Raids contrast from normal raids in several ways, most notably that they can only be battled in person, take a full day to begin, and are extremely challenging, frequently requiring many players to defeat the Pokémon.

In May 2023, another new form of raid battle was introduced, named "Shadow Raids". Shadow Raids can be battled in person and remotely. They award the opportunity to capture a Shadow Pokémon after being defeated. During the battle, the Pokémon may become "enraged", increasing both its attack and defense, but can be reverted to normal using a "Purified Gem". Before May 2025, trainers could only battle Shadow Raids in person.

Trainer Battles

In December 2018, Niantic added player vs player (PvP) Trainer Battles. In January 2020, Niantic launched an online battle format, GO Battle League, which allows players to compete against other players worldwide. Unlike the Trainer Battles format introduced in 2018, GO Battle League physical proximity is not a requirement, including scanning a QR code on another's phone, being aware of their friend code, or any other real-world interactions between players. Instead, participating players are automatically paired by the game server by a variant of the Elo rating system.

GO Battle League has players engage in a three-on-three battle with their Pokémon. Gameplay functions similarly to other in-game battle formats, with players tapping their screen repeatedly to use a Pokémon's "fast move". Once fast moves have been used enough times, players can use a Pokémon's "charged move" to attack the opponent, which the opponent may decide to block with "protect shields", which can be used a limited amount per battle. Players can switch their Pokémon to another member of their team of three during battle. Trainer Battles have three major formats. The Great League was the first of the three leagues' options to be introduced in the GO Battle League. The Great League only allows Pokémon with a combat power (CP) value of 1,500 or lower to participate. The Ultra League only allows Pokémon with a CP value of 2,500 or lower to participate. The Master League has no limit on the CP value of the Pokémon allowed to participate.

The GO Battle League has been used in competitive Pokémon play. In October 2021, it was announced that Pokémon Go would be added during the 2022 World Championships. A qualification system titled the Pokémon Go Championship Series was announced. Any trainer who reached a certain threshold of the GO Battle League would qualify for the GO Championship Series. The top two players would be permitted to participate in the World Championships. Pokémon Go later returned in the 2023 and 2024 World Championships.

Team GO Rocket battles/

In July 2019, Pokémon Go introduced Team GO Rocket battles. Team GO Rocket NPCs could be fought at certain PokéStops (indicated by their twitching movements and dark color instead of blue) or in Team GO Rocket Balloons, which appear in the sky and follow the player on the map. After victory, the player has the opportunity to capture a "Shadow Pokémon", which are relatively low-level, angry-looking Pokémon. Shadow Pokémon have a bonus to their attack but a penalty in their defense compared to a normal Pokémon. After capture, the player has the choice to purify the Shadow Pokémon. Purification of the Pokémon improves its level and stats from its Shadow counterparts, and it also can learn an exclusive move when purified and requires fewer candies to evolve.

Dynamax and Gigantamax battles

In September 2024, Pokémon Go introduced Dynamax Battles and Dynamax Pokémon, a mechanic originating from Pokémon Sword and Shield. Players can participate in these battles in person or remotely. Players must use a special currency called "MP" to join; the amount required varies according to the battle's difficulty level. In these battles, up to four players can fight a Dynamax Pokémon, in which they have to fill a meter by attacking in order to Dynamax or Gigantamax their own Pokémon. Each Pokémon's Max Move, which is only usable in Dynamax form and deals increased damage, is based on the type of their regular Fast Attack (except G-Max Moves, which are connected to species regardless of the Fast Attack). They may additionally use Max Guard, which increases defense, and Max Spirit, which restores health. If all Pokémon are knocked out, players can attempt usage of Max Cheer to increase the Max Meter. Only Dynamax Pokémon (marked on the Pokémon's information page), Gigantamax Pokémon (marked on the Pokémon's information page), Crowned Sword Zacian, Crowned Shield Zamazenta, and Eternatus can participate in Dynamax Battles, and only specific Pokémon can be obtained in Dynamax form. Gigantamax Battles, which debuted in October 2024, operate in a similar way to Dynamax battles, with a significant difference being that up to 100 players can join a single battle (subdivided into teams of four or less). Much like Dynamax, only specific Pokémon caught from Gigantamax Battles are capable of transforming. Before August 2025, Gigantamax Battles supported up to 40 players in one battle.

Development

Pre-release

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John Hanke, the founder of Niantic.

The concept of Pokémon Go was conceived in 2014 by Satoru Iwata of Nintendo and Tsunekazu Ishihara of The Pokémon Company as an April Fools' Day collaboration with Google, called the Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge. Ishihara was a fan of developer Niantic's previous transreality game, Ingress, and viewed the concept of the game as a perfect match for the Pokémon series. Niantic, a subsidiary of Google, used the crowdsourced data from Ingress to populate the locations for PokéStops and Gyms within Pokémon Go, data from Google Maps to spawn specific Pokémon on certain terrain, and map display from OpenStreetMap since December 2017. The game's application logic uses the open-source Kubernetes system—and due to the game's sheer scale of users at the time, a large number of issues with the Kubernetes system were discovered and later resolved. Niantic was spun off from Google as an independent company in 2015 following the company reorganization into Alphabet Inc.

In 2015, Ishihara dedicated his speech at the game's announcement on September 10 to Iwata, who had died two months prior. Tatsuo Nomura, who joined Niantic in 2015 following his development of the Google Maps Pokémon Challenge, acted as a director and product manager for the game. The game's soundtrack was written by longtime Pokémon series composer Junichi Masuda, who helped with some of the game's design as well. Among the game's graphic designers was Dennis Hwang, who previously produced the logo of Gmail while working for Google.

On March 4, 2016, Niantic announced a Japan-exclusive beta test would start later that month, allowing its players' assistance with the game's testing and improvement prior to its public release. The beta test was later expanded to other countries. On April 7, it was announced that the beta would expand to Australia and New Zealand. Then, on May 16, 2016, the signups for the field test were opened to the United States. The test concluded on June 30, 2016.

Post-release

At the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, John Hanke, founder of Niantic, revealed the appearances of the three team leaders: Candela (Team Valor), Blanche (Team Mystic), and Spark (Team Instinct). Hanke conveyed that approximately 10 percent of the ideas for the game were implemented. Future updates, including the trading feature, more Pokémon, implementation of Pokémon Centers at PokéStops, a fix for the "three-step glitch", and easier training, were also confirmed. He also stated that Niantic would be continuing support for the game for "years to come". In an interview with TechCrunch in September 2016, Hanke hinted that player vs. player Pokémon battles would be made available in a future update. In December 2016, coffeehouse chain Starbucks and telecommunications company Sprint collaborated with Nintendo to add PokéStops and gyms at certain locations of theirs throughout the United States. The same month, a companion app for Apple Watch devices was released, which allowed users to receive notifications about nearby Pokémon but did not permit them to be caught using the watch. In January 2017, five thousand more Starbucks locations became available as Gyms. In February 2017, an update was published, introducing 100 species situated in the Johto region from the second generation of the core Pokémon series, which were added alongside the original 151. The update also included the addition of new Berries, new Pokémon encounter mechanics, and an expanded selection of avatar clothing options. Some of the Pokémon introduced in Ruby and Sapphire were added in late 2017, beginning with a Halloween event in October and fifty more in December. A weather system was added alongside the latter, allowing real-world weather to affect spawns and gameplay. In November 2018, a game developed by Game Freak and heavily inspired by Pokémon Go, Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! was released on the Nintendo Switch. This game features Pokémon Go-style catching with Joy-Con and integration between the two games. In addition, a new Pokémon species called Meltan was revealed in September, becoming the first new Pokémon to debut in Pokémon Go. On October 10, 2018, The Pokémon Company and Niantic announced plans to introduce Pokémon from Diamond and Pearl into Pokémon Go. On October 12, Niantic heavily suggested one of the Generation IV Pokémon that would arrive in Pokémon Go. On October 25, a feature referred to as Adventure Sync was announced, which will record the player's walking data in the background, even when the application is closed. On October 26, Niantic announced research tasks for Bug-type Pokémon that will give players an opportunity to catch Shedinja throughout November.

According to John Hanke in a January 2019 interview with Business Insider, 2018 saw Go become the game initially envisioned by Niantic.

As Pokémon Go expanded through regional events and global marketing campaigns, Niantic faced coordination challenges among different regional agencies localizing materials that were visible worldwide, requiring additional efforts to maintain consistency.

In 2020, Niantic made major changes to gameplay mechanisms considering the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw many players unable to leave their homes to play. These development shifts caused changes like the addition of indoor step tracking to count toward in-game distance challenges, long-distance PVP battles, increased "incense" effectiveness, increased spawn points, and a doubled player radius.

In March 2025, Niantic was purchased by the Saudi Arabia-backed investment firm, Scopely, advancing Saudi Arabia's ambitions to become a "global hub" for gaming and to diversify their economy.

Pokémon Go Plus

The Pokémon Go Plus, shown with its wrist strap.

The Pokémon Go Plus is a Bluetooth Low Energy wearable device, developed by Nintendo's Platform Technology Development division, that enables players to perform certain actions in the game without needing to look at their smart device. When a player is in close proximity to a Pokémon or PokéStop, the Plus vibrates. The player can then promptly press the button to capture the Pokémon or obtain items from the PokéStop; the player cannot check what they have received until the next time they open the app on their mobile device. The design consists of a Poké Ball and the shape of the Google Maps pin. The decision to create the device rather than create a smartwatch app was to increase uptake among players for whom a smartwatch is prohibitively expensive. It was released in the United Kingdom and North America on September 16, 2016. On July 14, 2023, the Pokémon Go Plus + was released, acting as the successor to the Pokémon Go Plus. The Plus+ added the ability to automatically catch Pokémon and interact with PokéStops, along with sleep tracking features to be used with Pokémon Sleep.

Release

Regional availability

Global release dates for Pokémon Go

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Key	Date	Countries and territories	Ref.
	July 6, 2016	Australia, New Zealand, and the United States
	July 13, 2016	Germany
	July 14, 2016	United Kingdom
	July 15, 2016	Italy, Spain, and Portugal
	July 16, 2016	Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, and Switzerland
	July 17, 2016	Canada
	July 19, 2016	Puerto Rico
	July 22, 2016	Japan
	July 24, 2016	France
	July 25, 2016	Hong Kong
	August 3, 2016	Latin America and Caribbean islands
	August 6, 2016	Brunei, Cambodia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam
	September 29, 2016	Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macau, North Macedonia, and Serbia
	September 30, 2016	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
	October 4, 2016	Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Seychelles, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia
	November 17, 2016	Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, and United Arab Emirates
	December 13, 2016	Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka
	January 24, 2017	South Korea
	September 11, 2018	Russia
	June 3, 2021	Turkey
	October 12, 2024	Saudi Arabia

The game's official launch began on July 6, 2016, with releases in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Due to server strain caused by high usage upon release, Niantic CEO John Hanke stated that the release in other regions would be "paused until Niantic was comfortable" with fixing the issues. The game's official launch began on July 6, 2016, with releases in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Due to server strain caused by high usage upon release, Niantic CEO John Hanke stated that the release in other regions would be "paused until Niantic was comfortable" with fixing the issues. The Japanese launch was initially reported to be on July 20; however, the game's launch was delayed after a sponsorship deal with fast food chain McDonald's was leaked, instead releasing two days later. Although the game was proposed to be released in France on July 15, it was postponed until July 24 out of respect and due to safety concerns following a terrorist attack in Nice on July 14. Following the shutdown of third-party apps and websites in late July 2016—significantly reducing the server strain—Niantic was able to resume pushing releases globally. Central and South America and a large portion of Southeast Asia subsequently saw releases in early August. Indonesia was the first Asian country to have the game functional, despite the game not being officially released in that region until August 6.

In South Korea, the game was not officially released, as major restrictions on the use of online mapping data existed. However, due to a glitch, a tiny area around Sokcho in the northeastern part of the country was considered a part of Niantic's North Korea mapping region, making the game fully functional in that area. Numerous people took advantage of the glitch to play the game. Bus tickets from the capital city of Seoul sold out, and people living within Sokcho shared information on free Wi-Fi areas with tourists. Players also discovered a Gym in Panmunjom, along the Korean Demilitarized Zone; however, Niantic later removed it from the game. Following the release of Pokémon Go in Japan, parts of Busan also became playable, as parts of the city are considered part of Japan's mapping area due to the proximity of Tsushima Island. The game officially released in the country in January 2017.

In mainland China, Google services are banned by the Great Firewall, whereas the GPS function in the game is blocked by Niantic. Players of Pokémon Go in China are required to install the game with App Store IDs from other regions and use VPN to access Google services in order to load the game, and some players even use a GPS spoofing app to bypass the GPS blocking. Some players also downloaded a clone app called City Spirit Go, which was released shortly after Pokémon Go's beta test in Japan. As of 2020, the official game is still unplayable in most parts of China, with GPS modules being blocked in-game. Following its launch on August 6, 2016, in Taiwan, the game became extremely popular. Taiwan's high degree of urbanization is conducive to the game's location-based features, and crowds of thousands played in the walkable metropolitan areas of Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. Chen Ching-Po became notable as "Uncle Pokémon" for rigging seventy-two smartphones (with more than twenty Pokémon Go accounts) to his bicycle.

During its launch in Southeast Asia in August 2016, the game officially excluded Myanmar, but users in Thailand discovered that the game was fully playable in border cities near the nation. The game was released in the Balkans, Macau, and Central Asia in September 2016 and was also released throughout Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia by the year's conclusion.

On September 11, 2018, the game appeared in Russia's App Store and Google Play Store over two years after the first launch. However, Niantic did not officially announce this release.

In May 2019, the game was released on the Samsung Galaxy Store.

Commercial response

Nintendo

A graph of Nintendo's stock value in July 2016 depicting the surge in investment following Pokémon Go's initial release on July 7 and subsequent slump on July 25

Investors were buoyed by the response to the initial release of Pokémon Go on July 7, with Nintendo's share price elevating by an initial 10 percent and by July 14, shares rose to as large as 50 percent. Despite Nintendo only owning a 32 percent stake in The Pokémon Company and an undisclosed stake in Niantic, Nintendo's market value increased by $9 billion USD within five days of the release of Pokémon Go. This trend continued for more than a week after the game's release, and by July 19, the stock value of Nintendo more than doubled compared to its pre-release. Turnover sales reached a record-breaking ¥703.6 billion ($6.6 billion USD), and trading of the stock accounted for a quarter of all trades on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's main board. The Financial Times believed that investors were speculating not on Pokémon Go as such, but on future Nintendo app releases being as successful as the company moves more into the mobile app market—an area they were historically reluctant to enter in the belief it would cannibalize its portable console and video game sales. Nintendo plans to release four more smartphone app games by March 2017, and investors remarked that Pokémon Go showed Nintendo still has some of the "most valuable character intellectual property in the world" with franchises such as 'Super Mario', The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid.

By July 22, Nintendo had gained ¥1.8 trillion ($17.6 billion USD) in market capitalization since the game's release. However, following clarification from Nintendo that the company did not produce Pokémon Go nor had tangible financial gains from it, its stock fell by 18 percent—equating to a ¥708 billion ($6.7 billion USD) loss in market value—on July 25. This was the largest single-day decline for Nintendo since 1990 and the maximum one-day exchange of finances allowed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company has an approximately 13 percent "effective economic stake" in the game, according to Macquarie Securities.

Other companies

The surge in stocks extended beyond Nintendo, with Tomy, TV Tokyo, and the Bank of Kyoto, among other companies, all seeing significant gains. Similarly, Zagg, which owns a company that manufactures battery cases, saw a 25 percent rise in its stock in relation to Pokémon Go.

Technical issues

At launch, the game suffered from frequent server outages due to heavy usage. The global server usage expectation for the game was surpassed within 15 minutes of the game's release in Australia and New Zealand and peaked at fifty times the expected server traffic, or 10 times the expected worst-case scenario. Frequent crashes and authentication errors plagued the game's release and lasted for several days. For the first two days after launch, players were unable to access the game through their Pokémon Trainer Club accounts; only Gmail-based accounts were able to gain access to the game. Servers again suffered frequent outages in Australia on July 11; players blamed people in the United Kingdom for bypassing local servers and using Australian ones to play the game before its official release. On July 16, a few hours after the release in many European countries, the game's servers temporarily went offline. The outage was claimed by a hacking group called "PoodleCorp", who said they used a DDoS attack to shut them down, although the problem was fixed later that day. The next day, the servers went down again as the game was launched in Canada. John Hanke issued an apology for the server issues at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, stating "we weren't provisioned for what happened".

Some early iOS installs of Pokémon Go required users to provide the app with full access to their Google accounts, thereby allowing the app to "access players' Gmail-based email, Google Drive-based files, photos and videos stored in Google Photos, and any other content within their Google accounts". The Pokémon Company and Niantic responded to the concerns, recognizing that the iOS app, at the time, "... erroneously requests full access permission for the user's Google account ..." However, Adam Reeve—the person who initially made accusations of the security issues in a Tumblr post—later backtracked on his claim and was not "100 percent sure" it was valid. Dan Guido, CEO of the security company Trail of Bits, analyzed the app's programming and discovered that although the game did request full account access, this did not enable third-party account usage as initially conveyed. Guido found that this did enable Niantic to access people's email addresses and phone numbers unintentionally. A subsequent iOS app update reduced the scope of access. Niantic also issued a statement assuring users that no information was collected, nor was any information beyond what was necessary to use the app accessed.

Alongside server issues, Pokémon Go suffered from several glitches. One of the more prominent bugs appeared in mid-July 2016 and rendered the game's tracking feature useless. Normally, this feature shows between zero and three footprints to inform the player of their proximity to a nearby Pokémon; however, it universally became "stuck" at three steps, earning it the name "three-step-glitch". Niantic removed the footstep feature completely on July 30, sparking criticism from players. By August 1, players reported a new glitch that swaps their captured Pokémon with another one at random. Another bug, confirmed by Niantic in August, inadvertently made capturing Pokémon more difficult. Some Legendary Pokémon, which are rare and powerful versions of the creatures, were also obtained by players in a glitch, though they were later removed from the accounts of the trainers who obtained them to keep the game fair.

Reception

Pokémon Go was released to "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Upon release, critics called the experience enjoyable but noted the game's technical issues.

Critics praised various aspects of Pokémon Go. Oscar Dayus (Pocket Gamer) said that the game was an immensely enjoyable experience and continued with how "the very personal nature of catching Pokémon in your own neighborhood made me smile more than any game has for years." Jeremy Parish (US Gamer) compared the game and its social aspects to a massively multiplayer online game. Reviewers also praised the game for its promotion of physical exercise. Terri Schwartz (IGN) stated it was "secretly the best exercise app out there" and that it altered her daily walking routine. Patrick Allen (Lifehacker) wrote an article with tips describing how to exercise using Pokémon Go. Julia Belluz (Vox) said it could be the "greatest unintentional health fad ever" and wrote that one of the results of the game that the developers may not have realized was that "it seems to be getting people moving". Studies proved users took an extra 194 steps per day on average once they started using the app, which approximated to 26 percent more than usual. IGN named it the 100th best video game of all time in 2018.

Philip Kollar and Allegra Frank (Polygon) both agreed that Pokémon Go was "an exciting social experience", but were unsure how long the game and its popularity would last, stating it could either last for many years or "end up as a brush fire craze that the whole gaming world is talking about for a few weeks, and then it is forgotten".

Other critics expressed more negative opinions of the game, with many citing frequent crashes and other technical issues, along with shallow gameplay. Kallie Plagge (IGN) said that although the game lacked in polish and depth, the overall experience accounted for it. Matt Peckham (Time) criticized the game for its frequent crashes. Mike Cosimano (Destructoid) also took issue with the game, saying the original idea showed promise, but was improperly executed. Kat Brewster (The Guardian) wrote that although she thought Pokémon Go was not a good game, it was "a great experience". The server problems also received negative press. Miguel Concepcion (GameSpot) said that although he enjoyed the game's strong social appeal and visual design, the game's "initial iteration is a buggy mess on all levels", with one of the reasons being the constant server issues. Another glitch that appeared a few days after launch was the "three-step glitch", which made it impossible to "hunt down a specific Pokémon". Patricia Hernandez (Kotaku) said, "the three-step-glitch adds to what has been a terrible launch for Pokémon Go". Critics also emphasized the large gap between the rural and urban players. Rural players seem to be at a major disadvantage when playing the game, while city players have access to more PokéStops and Gyms.

Downloads and revenue

2016

Revenue of Pokémon Go between 2016 and 2020.

Pokémon Go rapidly rose to the American iOS App Store's "Top Grossing" and "Free" charts. It has become the fastest game to top the App Store and Google Play, beating Clash Royale, and it became the most downloaded app on the App Store of any application in the first week. Within two days of release, it was installed on more than 5 percent of Android devices in the United States, according to SimilarWeb, According to Sensor Tower, the game was downloaded more than 10 million times within the first week of being released, becoming the fastest app to ever do so, and reached 15 million global downloads by July 13. According to SurveyMonkey the game became the most active mobile game in the United States all of time with 21 million active users on July 12, eclipsing Candy Crush Saga's peak of 20 million. By July 15, approximately 1.3 million people were playing the game in the Netherlands, despite the app not being officially released in the country at the time. On the day of release in Japan, more than 10 million people downloaded the game, including 1.3 million in the first three hours. By July 31, the game exceeded 100 million downloads worldwide, according to App Annie and Sensor Tower. On August 8, Pokémon Go reached the milestone of over 100 million downloads on Google Play alone after barely 33 days on the market.

Through in-game purchases, the game accumulated more than $160 million USD by the end of July 2016, with App Annie reporting that Pokémon Go had generated around $10 million in revenue every day that entire month. The same month, Sensor Tower reported that the game had exceeded $200 million in worldwide revenue, beating every existing record set by Clash of Clans and Candy Crush by a wide margin. On August 12, 2016, the Financial Times reported that Pokémon Go reached $268 million in revenue after five weeks counting only the U.S., British, and German markets. The average daily usage of the app on Android devices in July 2016 exceeded that of Snapchat, Tinder, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Due by the game's massive popularity, several app developers became focused on developing similar AR apps using available software development kits (SDK). By September 2, 2016, Pokémon Go had generated more than $440 million in global revenue, according to Sensor Tower. By September 30, it had received 500 million downloads and grossed $470 million in 80 days, according to market research firm Newzoo. Pokémon Go reached the milestone of $600 million in revenue after only 90 days on the market, becoming the fastest mobile game ever to do so.

Besides in-game purchases, partnerships with retail chains like Starbucks, McDonald's, Sprint, pay Niantic Labs for "Foot Traffic" on-demand of the retail shops.

The game was awarded five Guinness World Records in August 2016: most revenue grossed by a mobile game in its first month ($206.5 million USD); most downloaded mobile game in its first month (130 million downloads); most international charts topped simultaneously for a mobile game in its first month (top game in 70 different countries); most international charts topped simultaneously for a mobile game in its first month (top grossing in 55 countries simultaneously); and fastest time to gross $100 million by a mobile game (reached in 20 days on July 26). By September 2016, Pokémon Go had been downloaded over 500 million times worldwide, and became the fastest game to generate $500 million in revenue. Pokémon Go was awarded the App Store's breakout hit of 2016. Pokémon Go was reported to be the most searched game on Google in 2016.

Usage of the game in the United States peaked on July 15, 2016; by mid-September it had lost 79 percent of its players in the country. Forbes said "the vaguely curious stopped playing and the more committed players ran up against a fairly unsatisfying endgame". In October 2016, Niantic released a Halloween-themed event, which saw a surge in revenue up to 133 percent as reported by Sensor Tower, placing the game back to top of the leaderboard of highest grossing apps. It was reported that the game earned approximately $23.3 million USD between October 25 and 29, up from approximately $10 million USD between October 18 and 22. According to App Annie, Pokémon Go grossed an estimated $950 million USD total in 2016.

2017–2021

In February 2017, Pokémon Go was awarded for being the best app at the Crunchies award event. By February 2017, the game has been downloaded more than 650 million times globally, with a reported $1 billion in revenue made, becoming the fastest mobile game ever to do so. By June 2017, the game was downloaded more than 750 million times, with an estimated revenue of $1.2 billion according to Apptopia. According to mobile app research firm Apptopia, approximately 60 million users were still playing the game a year after its launch. In May 2018, The Pokémon Company announced that the game reached over 800 million downloads worldwide. Forbes estimated that the game possibly came close to 900 million downloads by September, 2018. The top five countries where it has received the most downloads are the United States (21.0 percent), Brazil (9.3 percent), India (8.6 percent), Mexico (5.5 percent), and Indonesia (5.0 percent). As of February 2019, the game exceeded 1 billion downloads worldwide.

A report from SuperData Research ranked Pokémon Go as the 9th highest grossing mobile game of 2017, with an annual revenue of $890 million. Bloomberg estimated that Pokémon Go generated up to $2 billion in total revenue by late 2017. Two years from its initial launch, analyst firm Sensor Tower estimated the game had grossed over $1.8 billion from in-app purchases, reporting that players around the world continue to spend $2 million each day. SuperData Research reported that, in May 2018, Pokémon Go grossed $104 million in monthly revenue and had 147 million monthly active players, its highest since Summer 2016. In July 2018, Pokémon Go was the top-grossing mobile app of the month. Since the introduction of trading and friends features, Sensor Tower has reported that players spend an average of $2.5 million per day. Apptopia reported that, by September 2018, the game had grossed over $2 billion from in-app purchases; the top five countries where it has received the most revenue are Japan ($670 million), the United States ($550 million), Germany ($88 million), the United Kingdom ($86 million), and Australia ($52 million). It was the fourth highest-grossing game of 2018, with $1.3 billion, and in 2019 alone Pokémon Go earned $1.4 billion, according to Superdata Research, a division of Nielsen Media Research. Pokémon Go live events earned $249 million in tourism revenue during 2019. According to Sensor Tower in November 2020, Pokémon Go had accumulated nearly 600 million unique installs and generated almost $4.2 billion in revenue from in-game purchases via the iOS App Store and Google Play. Its largest market in terms of both installs and revenue is the United States, followed by Japan and Germany in revenue and by Brazil and Mexico in installs.

During 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing restrictions on the ability of players to play Go outside of their homes, Niantic implemented new features that allowed players to play the game from inside of their homes, and this was credited with increasing its player base throughout the year despite the restrictions. Despite a brief drop early in the pandemic, the number of monthly active users of the game rose by 45 percent between January and August 2020, and the game's revenue in 2020 was the highest in its history, exceeding even its 2016 revenue. The game generated more than $1 billion of revenue in the first 10 months of 2020 according to Sensor Tower, and it was the top-grossing mobile game of December 2020. Pokémon Go was one of the top five highest-grossing games of 2020 with an annual revenue of $1.92 billion according to SuperData Research, bringing the game's cumulative revenue to $6.46 billion by 2020. The game generated a further $641.6 million in the first half of 2021.

Community and cultural impact

Pokémon Go live events}}

PokéStop in Alameda Central, Mexico City.

The game was referred to as a "social media phenomenon" which has brought people together from all walks of life. 231 million people engaged in 1.1 billion interactions that mentioned Pokémon Go on Facebook and Instagram in the month of July. Numerous media outlets referred to the surge in popularity as "Pokémon Go Mania", or simply "Pokémania". The massive popularity of the game resulted in several unusual positive effects. For example, the game placed players where they can help capture criminals and report crimes in progress, although it has also placed some in dangerous situations, and has even aided law enforcement's community relations, albeit with caveats. Businesses also benefited from the nearby presence of PokéStops (or from their business being a PokéStop) with the concomitant influx of people, and the intense exploration of communities has brought local history to the forefront. The game was also viewed bringing its players to places of worship, as many Pokégyms are located in these areas. Despite some criticism by religious leaders, this was received positively by religious groups, who saw it as reminding adherents to come and pray. Some establishments even considered purchasing lures in the game to attract additional players to PokéStops on their property. Within a week of its release, a secondary market emerged for the game, both for the resell of high-level accounts on Craigslist and PlayerUp, and for the sale of expert advice on Thumbtack. Wireless provider T-Mobile US started an offer for free data for a year for Pokémon Go sessions, and Yelp added a filter that only shows businesses which have a PokéStop nearby. National parks across the United States saw an influx of visitors due to the game, with "hundreds or thousands" of people visiting the National Mall and Memorial Parks in Washington, D.C. on the weekend following Pokémon Go's release in the country. Small museums with PokéStops placed at exhibits also reported increased attendance, such as the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas, and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Boca Raton, Florida. Charity organizations also sought engagement from players, with animal shelters offering dog walks to people who want to hatch eggs in-game.

Players gathering around a "Gym" in a park in Brest, France.

Eduardo Paes, then-mayor of Rio de Janeiro, stated that he hoped the app would be released in Brazil before the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics in the city (and it was, on August 3), and United States presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton mentioned the app during their 2016 election campaigns. In late July 2016, during a public address, the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, compared a political issue about the date of an incoming referendum as preposterous as the hunt for the Pokémon. Shortly after the game's release, Bellator mixed martial artist Michael Page celebrated a knockout of his match opponent, Evangelista Santos by putting on a red Ash Ketchum-like hat and rolling a prop Poké Ball in Santos's direction. On July 25, Dwayne Johnson released a promo video featuring MatPat and Ali-A with himself as a tough, rare Pokémon.

The game was credited for popularizing AR, and was praised by genderfluid groups for letting the players choose a "style" instead of "gender". The game also had a positive impact among individuals with autism. The "Pokémon Theme" from the animated series saw a 630% increase in listeners on music streaming platform Spotify during the month of the game's release. Meanwhile, streaming services such as Hulu experienced an increased viewership of the Pokémon series and films. Nintendo reported that sales of the 3DS Pokémon games increased as a result of the game's popularity. A Twitch channel, Twitch Plays Pokémon Go, was created that mimics the crowd-played Twitch Plays Pokémon channel, allowing viewers to direct a virtual avatar in the game using an iPhone programmed to spoof its GPS location. Niantic later issued permanent bans to those who cheated the game by means such as GPS spoofing and bots. Pokémon-themed pornography increased in popularity after the release of the game. xHamster, an adult video streaming website, reported that within five days of the game's release, Pokémon related terms were the most searched for videos. Another adult video streaming website, Pornhub, reported that Pokémon related searches spiked 136 percent. Pokémon Go was spoofed in the Maroon 5 music video, "Don't Wanna Know". In the 2016 Doctor Who Christmas special, "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", the Doctor creates a distraction by "flooding the downstairs with Pokémon", causing the people to run off with their cellphones. In the episode "Looking for Mr. Goodbart" from the 28th season of The Simpsons, the people of Springfield become addicted to Peekimon Get, a parody of Pokémon Go.

Go's release resulted in a resurgence in popularity for the Pokémon franchise as a whole. The Pokémon Sun and Moon games for the Nintendo 3DS, released later in 2016, was the best-selling video game for the 3DS with over 16 million copies sold, and this was partly attributed to the new fans to the series brought in by Go. In an interview, director of Sun and Moon Shigeru Ohmori remarked that the Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon sequels were designed partly to facilitate entry for newcomers to the franchise brought in by Go. The first Pokémon games for the Nintendo Switch, Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, took significant inspirations from Go. A line of official Go merchandise was released in November 2019.

Players during the Pokémon Go Fest in Chicago, 2017.

In addition to standard game-play, the game has held several in-game and live events. The first live event officially held by Niantic was held in Charlotte, North Carolina, in May 2017. In July 2017, a community event was held in Grant Park, Chicago, in honor of the first anniversary of the game's release. Despite the fact that almost no information about the event, including ticket prices and attractions, was released by Niantic ahead of the ticket sale, over 20,000 tickets sold out within a half hour. During the event itself, attendees suffered connectivity issues and crashes, due to the heavy amount of localized cellular activity. Afterwards, Niantic announced that they would refund everybody who bought a ticket, as well as supply them $100 of in-game currency. Following the event, around two dozen attendees filed a lawsuit against Niantic, seeking travel reimbursement.

Following the event in Chicago, other events have been hosted in Chester, Yokohama, and San Jose. In September 2017, a series of events named "Safari Zone" were held in Unibail-Rodamco shopping centers in Oberhausen, Paris and Barcelona, with events the following month in Copenhagen, Prague, Stockholm and Amstelveen.

In January 2018, Niantic announced a monthly community event called Community Day, which aims to get players to meet up in their local areas. During a multi-hour period, players can encounter more frequent wild spawns of a particular Pokémon, an exclusive move for that Pokémon (or its evolution), an increased probability to obtain the shiny form of that Pokémon, and bonuses such as extra Stardust or XP. The Community Days in 2018 featured Pikachu (January 20), Dratini (February 24), Bulbasaur (March 25), Mareep (April 15), Charmander (May 19), Larvitar (June 16), Squirtle (July 8), Eevee (August 11–12), Chikorita (September 22), Beldum (October 21), and Cyndaquil (November 10).

Pokémon Go in Syria is a photography series published in 2016 by Syrian artist Khaled Akil. Akil places Pokémon characters in destroyed Syrian streets as a reminder for a world lost behind the screen. While Pokémon Go was trending worldwide, Akil couldn't help but notice how the media forgot about the war in Syria, and visualized his idea in the form of digital collages. Khaled's Pokémon series quickly went viral across the globe after he posted it online. This photography series was exhibited in various locations including the American University Museum.

Criticism and incidents

A sign outside Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, California, admonishing visitors to not play Pokémon Go inside the temple grounds.

The app was criticized for including locations such as cemeteries and memorials as areas to capture Pokémon, including the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Arlington National Cemetery, the ANZAC War Memorial, and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Niantic later removed content from sensitive areas such as the Hiroshima Memorial and Holocaust Museum. The game sparked complaints from Dutch company ProRail, who said that players entered their railway tracks, and fire stations told players to not impede their staff by congregating outside.

The game's distribution of PokéStops and gyms (derived from the portals in Ingress, Niantic's science fiction-themed AR game) was noted to be sparser in many minority neighborhoods in a reflection of American demographics. Players in rural areas also complained about the lack of Pokémon spawns, PokéStops, and gyms in their area. Pokémon Go was criticized for game accessibility issues by players with physical disabilities. The AbleGamers Foundation COO, Steve Spohn, said that when Pokémon Go was compared to other mobile games, it "excludes disabled players to a significant degree".

A variable-message sign in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, warning drivers to avoid playing Pokémon Go while driving.

Police departments in various countries issued warnings, some tongue-in-cheek, regarding inattentive driving, trespassing, and being targeted by criminals due to being unaware of one's surroundings. In the state of New York, sex offenders are banned from using the application while on parole. Bosnian players were warned to avoid going into minefields left over from the 1990s Bosnian War. In Russia, a 21-year-old video blogger, Ruslan Sokolovsky, was arrested in September 2016 for two months after playing Pokémon Go at the Church of All Saints in Yekaterinburg, and eventually received a suspended sentence for three and a half years in prison for charges of blasphemy.

People have suffered various injuries from accidents related to the game. In Japan, the first accident occurred within hours of the game's release. The first death in Japan attributed to Pokémon Go occurred in late August 2016. A distracted driver playing the game killed one woman and badly injured another. The 39-year-old farmer did not notice the women crossing a street and hit them with his truck. The woman died due to a broken neck. Japan's National Police Agency said it was the 79th Pokémon Go-related accident in the country. On August 11, 2016, a young girl in Cambodia was reportedly killed after being hit by a car while trying to capture a Pokémon located on a road. The case was the first death related to Pokémon Go among Southeast Asian countries. In January 2017, Chinese-American civilian Jiansheng Chen was shot dead while playing Pokémon Go.

Al-Azhar University in Cairo described the game as "harmful mania." A Cossack leader declared that it "smacks of Satanism", Kuwait banned the game from government sites, Indonesian officials deemed it a national security threat, and in Israel the IDF banned the game from army bases out of security considerations. In Saudi Arabia, the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars declared, in light of a 2001 fatwa banning the Pokémon card game as a form of gambling, that the electronic app required a new ruling. This was also followed by both Indian and Malaysian Islamic leaders telling Indian and Malaysian Muslims to avoid the game.

During Thailand's 2016 constitutional referendum polling, Pokémon Go players were told to refrain from entering polling stations. Thus, the Thai National Broadcasting and Communications Commission intends to ask Niantic to remove Pokémon characters and PokéStops from locations such as government facilities, historic and religious sites, and private property, as well as dangerous spots such as narrow footpaths and rivers. Cambodia has banned the game in a former genocide site after Pokémon players showed up there. Vietnam has banned players from entering the government and defense offices. The Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications is also considering the game's negative impact on Vietnamese society, where many people left home at night, crossed the road, or drove on the street with their eyes kept focused on phones, which brought the need to ban the game in the country. Following the move by other Southeast Asian neighbors, the Philippines also banned the game in all administration offices. According to a survey by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), around 4 percent of employers in Malaysia fired their staff for playing the game during working hours.

Russia also voiced their concerns over the application, with Nikolay Nikiforov, the country's Minister of Communications and Mass Media, suspecting foreign intelligence agencies of using the application to collect information, while some fundamentalist religious groups in the region declare it to be demonic. The Supreme Council of Virtual Space in Iran officially banned the game in August 2016 over security concerns. The same month, The Pentagon facility in the U.S. restricted the use of the game on their property, citing security risks by collecting private information. In the United Kingdom, 290 police incidents were reported to have occurred in July 2016 in the country due to the game. In September 2016, Niantic stopped supporting the CyanogenMod mobile operating system. This prevented users playing on CyanogenMod from playing the game from that point forward.

In India, the Gujarat High Court issued a notice to Niantic on the grounds of "posing danger to public safety". The notice was issued on a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) seeking a ban on the game in India. In addition, a second PIL was filed against the developers of Pokémon Go for hurting religious sentiments by showing images of eggs in places of worship of different religious groups, but the game was not banned.

Pokémon Go's targeted local advertising has been described by Shoshana Zuboff in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism as an experiment that originated from Google to move targeted advertising from the digital domain (cost per click) into the physical domain (cost per visit) by the use of sponsored locations. "In the end we recognize that the probe was designed to explore the next frontier: the means of behavioral modification. The game about the game is, in fact, an experimental facsimile of surveillance capitalism's design for our future."

Some players of Pokémon Go have been known to vandalize OpenStreetMap, one of the game's map data sources, to manipulate gameplay.

Third-party tools

Multiple unofficial, third-party applications were created to correspond with Pokémon Go. Notable apps include "Poké Radar" and "Helper for Pokémon Go" where players can crowdsource much of the Pokémon that can be found in the game at a particular time. At its peak of popularity, "Poké Radar" hit #2 on the Apple App Store, behind Pokémon Go itself.

Another app, GoChat, which allows players to leave messages for other players at specific locations, accrued more than 1 million downloads in five days and reached the top 10 in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. However, the app's developer, Jonathan Zarra, decided to leave the app non-monetized and had financial trouble keeping the application's servers online until bringing on angel investor and board member Michael Robertson. After acquiring significant funding, the app reached over 2 million active users. According to RiskIQ, at least 215 fake versions of the game were available by July 17, 2016. Several of these fake apps contained malicious programming and viruses.

Launched on July 22, 2016, "Pokévision" enabled players to find exactly where Pokémon spawned and how much time there was until they despawned; the site used data hacked directly from the game. In the five days following the website's launch, 27 million unique visitors used the site. On July 31, multiple search apps and sites, including Pokévision, were disabled as they violated Niantic's terms of service.

Sale to Scopely

In March 2025, Niantic announced that it would sell its video-game division, including Pokémon Go, to mobile publisher Scopely for $3.5 billion. The deal, confirmed on March 12, 2025, encompassed Niantic's flagship titles (Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, Monster Hunter Now) and companion apps Campfire and Wayfarer, while augmented reality games Ingress and Peridot were retained by the spun-off entity Niantic Spatial. As part of the transaction, Niantic distributed $350 million to its equity holders and funded Niantic Spatial with $250 million—$200 million from its balance sheet and $50 million from Scopely—under the continued leadership of CEO John Hanke. The acquisition was finished on May 29, 2025, following regulatory approval, and led to the layoff of 68 employees at Niantic's Ferry Building headquarters in San Francisco.

COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Niantic responded by implementing changes and new features in the game which allowed players to easily play remotely. However, starting on August 1, 2021, Niantic began rolling back these changes as part of its Exploration Bonus Updates. Players in New Zealand and the United States were the first to receive the post-pandemic changes, and gradually, they were rolled out to the rest of the world "in accordance with recommendations from global health organizations". In fear of violations in health and personal safety regulations, as well as negatively impacting players with disabilities, the company has since received heavy criticism from the player base (including top players Brandon Tan and Nick Oyzon) due to their reverting safety measures implemented during the pandemic, in which gym and Pokéstop interaction distances were increased from 40 to 80 meters. Despite increasing rates of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in various U.S. states (resulting in overflowing hospitals), Niantic is firm on not keeping the pandemic bonuses. Players began boycotting Pokémon Go since the first week of August 2021.

On Twitter, the #HearUsNiantic started trending worldwide as fans and players voiced their censure towards Niantic's decision to remove the pandemic bonuses. A letter was sent to Niantic, which responded to the community by stating that the pandemic changes will not stay. As Niantic is an AR company, part of its business strategy is to sell user data from players after completing AR mapping tasks where they can log their surroundings at marked PokéStops in their in-game maps. The reduced distance means an increased potential for Niantic to generate more revenue. Another reason for the changes is for Niantic to preserve its image as an AR tech giant; in its blog post it stated that its "mission" is to "encourage outdoor exploration" and "to connect people to real places in the real world and to visit places that are worth exploration".

In 2025, despite Niantic's gradual rollback of some pandemic-era safety measures, several gameplay adjustments introduced in early 2020 remain permanent changes. The interaction distance for PokéStops and Gyms—doubled from 40 meters to 80 meters at the onset of the pandemic—was reinstated as the baseline radius on August 26, 2021. Remote Raid Battles have since been fully integrated: as of May 13, 2025, trainers may use up to 10 Remote Raid Passes per day to join Shadow Raids and Max Battles from anywhere, and bundles of passes are now available in the Pokémon Go Web Store. Incense retains its pandemic-era duration and spawn rates—lasting 60 minutes and generating one Pokémon per minute while moving (or one every five minutes when stationary)—and Adventure Sync continues to record walking distance in the background to hatch Eggs and earn Buddy Candy even when the app is closed. Gift interactions also remain flexible, with a daily cap of 30 opened gifts instituted in March 2020 still in effect.

Awards

Award	Category	Result	Ref
BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards 2016	Best Game	Won
The Game Awards 2016	Best Mobile/Handheld Game	Won
	Best Family Game	Won
Golden Joystick Awards 2016	Innovation of the Year	Won
	Handheld/Mobile Game of the Year	Won
2016 TechRaptor Awards	Best Mobile/Handheld Game	Won
20th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards	Game of the Year	Nominated
	Mobile Game of the Year	Won
New York Game Critic Awards	A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game	Won
	Central Park Zoo Award for Best Kids Game	Won
Game Developers Choice Awards 2016	Best Mobile/Handheld Game	Won
	Innovation Award	Nominated
	Best VR/AR Game	Nominated
British Academy Children's Awards 2017	Game	Won
International Mobile Gaming Awards 2017	Grand Prix	Won
2017 SXSW Gaming Awards	Mobile Game of the Year	Won
	Excellence in Technical Achievements	Nominated
13th British Academy Games Awards	Family	Nominated
	Game Innovation	Nominated
	Mobile	Won
Golden Joystick Awards 2018	Still Playing Award	Nominated
Gamers' Choice Awards 2018	Fan Favorite Mobile Game	Won
2019 SXSW Gaming Awards	Most Evolved Game	Nominated
15th British Academy Games Awards	EE Mobile Game of the Year	Nominated
Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards	Best Live Ops	Nominated
16th British Academy Games Awards	EE Mobile Game of the Year	Nominated
2021 Kids' Choice Awards	Favorite Video Game	Nominated

See also

• List of Pokémon, the list of all of the original Pokémon by order
• Pikmin Bloom, similar game also developed by Niantic and Nintendo

External links

• Official website