The game “Pokémon GO!

»-

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  • Pokemon Go

    , a game from Niantic, was launched in 2016. At the heart of its gameplay, there is exploration, interaction with reality, the social bond with other players.

  • Even though these features were impacted by containment and travel restriction measures, that did not prevent the game from having a record year in 2020.

  • "We had to adapt, adjust, the gaming experience to new living conditions in the world,"

    Philip Marz, Product Marketing Manager at Niantic for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region

    , explains to

    20 Minutes

    .

    Concretely, this means that the hatching of the eggs was accelerated, that raids could be kept at a distance or that very short movements were taken into account.

"But it still exists

Pokémon Go

lol?"

This cry from the heart - and this boomer "lol" - comes from a colleague for whom the

Pokémon Go

phenomenon

never survived its launch year, in 2016. While it is true that Niantic's game has experienced a slump (and getting old?), it came back stronger than ever and signed a record year in 2019. One would quickly have thought that with the health crisis and confinements, 2020 was going to be a year indented, in parentheses.

However,

Pokémon Go

has done even better and exceed the billion dollars in revenue.

How is that possible, even though people were locked in their homes?

"We had to adjust the playing experience to the new living conditions"

“Our first decision was to ensure the safety of the players,” explains Philip Marz, Product Marketing Manager at Niantic for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

We have hundreds of millions of users around the world, and we take responsibility for them.

It was therefore necessary to cancel or repel all mass regroupings, such as special raids or the Safari Zone in Saint-Louis, Liverpool and Philadelphia.

The decisions on the game itself came next.

"

At the heart of

Pokemon Go's

gameplay

, there is exploration, interaction with reality, the social bond with other players.

Features that inevitably suffered the impact of Covid.

If some have thrown in the towel, or put the application on standby, others, many others, have hung on, helped, and rewarded, by the changes made by Niantic.

"We had to adapt, adjust, the playing experience to the new conditions, and sometimes restrictions, of life in the world," explains Philip Marz.

Especially since the coronavirus did not evolve in the same way according to the regions, the countries.

This had to be taken into account in order to provide a comprehensive response.

"

These are the Pokémon that find you

It was more gifts, more virtual and global events, eggs that hatch faster, ranged raids, longer incense, reduced distances or even taking into account very short trips.

“For example, you are at home and you clean, your steps are counted and have a real, positive impact on the game,” comments the marketing manager.

The individual experience has been enhanced.

At the origin of

Pokémon Go

, it is about finding and catching Pokémon, there are the Pokémon who find you.

You can stay at home and enjoy the game. ”

Pokémon Go is

becoming a game "like the others"?

"Oh no no," Philip Marz reacts.

We noticed that the majority of players continued to walk, or even more.

They made

Pokémon Go

part of their daily, confined routine.

It has become something positive, fun to do, with a real impact on morale.

Didn't the whole world jog during the first lockdown?

The

Pokémon Go

community

was thus very invested in 2020, and Niantic has already planned what to retain them in 2021 for the 25 years of the license.

Culture

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  • Confinement

  • Coronavirus

  • Pokemon

  • Video games

  • Culture