I have never seen a game become a part of the global cultural zeitgeist the way Pokémon GO has. Even Super Mario Bros took years to catch on and seemed quite niche compared to the way Pokémon GO seems to be penetrating every aspect of society. Even my non-gamer friends has asked me what it’s all about. Despite its status as an overnight sensation, it actually hasn’t even launched in most countries, which is soon to change.
Speaking to Reuters, Niantic CEO John Hanke explained that the company was working to bolster server capacity so that the game could roll out in about 200 countries “relatively soon”. When is “soon”, I hear you all ask. Well, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the South African roll out – I’m waiting to see if the fad lasts until then before downloading the game for myself. Checking out my favourite retail shop, AWX, the Pokémon GO Plus is releasing at the end of the month (and yes, I’ve ordered one because apparently they’re selling like hot cakes). While sure, it might happen that the accessory launches before the app locally, I highly doubt it. Plus, that falls into what I think most companies would call “relatively soon”.
We’re not the only ones patiently waiting for Pokémon GO to launch – Japan, South Korea and China are also struggling through the FOMO, and they are way bigger mobile markets. So I do have faith that Niantic and Nintendo are rushing to get into all their prospective markets ASAP – considering that Nintendo stock price has nearly doubled since the launch of Pokémon GO, I think it’s safe to say that the company is banking on the continued success of the game.
And it’s not just global rollout that will help the game more successful and rake in more cash. Pokémon GO works well with sponsors. At the moment, coffee shops and other establishments are getting extra foot traffic by putting down Pokémon lures, bringing players with it. But moving forward, there’s actually a built in system for that:
Hanke said the company is considering introducing a sponsorship scheme similar to one it has with Ingress, which designates sponsors’ stores and vending machines as spots in the game.
Sponsors pay per customer visit, providing a revenue stream in addition to in-app purchases. Niantic currently has eight corporate sponsors for Ingress globally, including SoftBank Group Corp, and the number is likely to be similar for Pokémon GO, he said.
I’d like to see more tie in like this. I heard there was a Pokémon GO event at the Pretoria Zoo this weekend, and tons of people turned out for it. Sure, most people were wondering the zoo while staring at their phones, but I like to think that at least some people were checking out the animals, taking in the nice day, and at least pointing out their awesome Pokémon finds to each other. Plus, they all had to pay entrance fee as usual, so it must have been a win-win for the Zoo and players alike. I’m curious to see if the excitement for Pokémon lasts, and how other businesses can find interesting ways to make it work for them, too.
Last Updated: July 18, 2016
Dane
July 18, 2016 at 09:42
Servers were apparently hit with a DDoS at about 4pm on saturday, and they were down from 1pm on sunday until early this morning too. :/
Kromas GG
July 18, 2016 at 09:43
That was a test. Day long Ddos August 1st.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
July 18, 2016 at 09:45
Poodlecorp can go screw a real poodle… no wait, poor poodle… no wait, the poodle won’t even feel it because they’re dickless cowards
Kromas GG
July 18, 2016 at 09:47
Exactly … I am following them cause I need to be prepared for the wow Ddos that will happen once legion launches.
VampyreSquirrel
July 18, 2016 at 10:07
Every WoW expansion… every one.
Kromas GG
July 18, 2016 at 11:23
200ms ping + DDoS = salty tears the first 2 weeks.
Does not stop me from trying to play at least.
VampyreSquirrel
July 18, 2016 at 11:34
Doesn’t stop me either XD
always hated the whole ddos thing.
Matthew Holliday
July 18, 2016 at 09:58
ddos and it was launched in canada, was a rough day
12 hour down time
went down as i dropped a lure on my local stop =/
I, mad.
VampyreSquirrel
July 18, 2016 at 10:06
Tweet yesterday: “47,302,242 people are trying to connect world wide. Please be patient if your game crashes”… HOLY HELL, 47 million people? No wonder I couldn’t get on.
Skittle
July 18, 2016 at 10:59
There is no need for FOMO, you can easily download the game, just make use of google.
HairyEwok
July 18, 2016 at 11:29
Still the funniest thing for me, the people who created pokemon go still cant play it in their own country.
Spy Master Tokashi
July 18, 2016 at 11:41
It is actually a very clever move. There are loads of cash to be made in China, Japan etc. other countries are the test subjects. You do not want to upset their biggest market coz of bad servers.
People get impatient becuase they cannot get the it in their countries but it is not worse to cause frustrations because your server is down everytime. People do not remember that the game had a delayed release but they do remember poor quality code or bad services.
HairyEwok
July 19, 2016 at 08:14
So would you rather have people angry (and all of Japan is actually frustrated) at you for not releasing the game in your country yet or because the servers go down once in a while.