(Newswire.net — July 17, 2016) —Pokemon Go is a free-to-play, location-based, augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic and published by The Pokémon Company. It was released in July 2016 for iOS and Android devices, and the game soon became very popular.
It immediately became the most popular free app in the US, and on the day of its launch last Wednesday, its servers crashed. Players have been playing the game for over 43 minutes a day, which is more than time spent on Instagram or Snapchat. Estimates are that by the end of this week, Pokemon Go will have about 100 million daily active users, the same as Twitter.
The game itself is free, but players wishing to advance faster have been purchasing in-app specials.
Pokemon Go is very popular due to its mix of virtual reality and real life. The likable creatures known as Pokemon pop up in a real environment as seen through the camera of a smartphone.
When the application is installed, it projects the player’s current environment and displays the Pokemon as part of the environment. The goal is to find all the Pokemon, so a player must physically go out and search for the Pokemon. The game sends a signal when a Pokemon is near the player’s location and the player must then direct his/her phone to the precise location and a Pokemon will appear. The player must catch the Pokemon by throwing a ball, known as a pokeball at it.
The good side of the game is that many players are now heading out instead of sitting at home for days playing other games. Some have even started complaining of sore muscles as the game involves a lot of walking.
But the game has also brought trouble. People roam the streets searching for Pokemon in an almost zombie like manner, causing trouble at every turn. One player caused a crash on a highway in the United States when he suddenly hit the brakes to catch a Pokemon that he had spotted. Fortunately, no one was injured.
In Missouri, police announced on Monday that 11 teenagers were recently robbed. The thieves used an in-game feature which lures Pokemon to a specific location to lure players who were in the area hunting Pokemon.
In the state of Wyoming, a girl had found a dead body floating in the river. Police have said that the death had nothing to do with the game, except that the girl was looking to find water type Pokemon in their natural environment.
However, some stories about the crimes connected with Pokemon Go should be taken lightly as they can be fabricated or exaggerated with the intention of increasing visits to the media that publish them. The stories also go in favor of those earning from the game.