According to financial analysts, social media and other such apps can finally relax because Pokémon GO is starting to lose hold of its users and will not be cannibalizing their markets for much longer. Data reported by Bloomberg indicates that the Pokémon GO craze is over and undergoing a steady decline. The report presents numbers which show that at its peak around July 18 Pokémon GO had 45 million active daily users and by August 16 it had gone down to about 30 million, in other words, a 15 million user loss.
Not to say that 30 million isn’t an impressive number, because Pokémon GO currently remains as the highest grossing app, but that’s still one third of their users gone. Similarly, engagement with the app has exhibited a drastic decrease and is on a downward trend.
An analysis of Google Trends supports this data and indicates that the interest in augmented reality generated by Pokémon GO has significantly diminished, yet interest in virtual reality is still going strong.
This news, however, should come as no surprise given that the unexpected success and user surge was a result of everyone and their mom jumping on the PoGO bandwagon because it was the cool thing to do, meaning that most of these users had no real interest and/or had no idea of what Pokémon even is. It'll definitely be interesting to continue watching this downward trend, see where it plateaus, and what it means for Niantic and the future of the game. As for virtual reality, the install base isn't as massive as it is for Pokémon GO. People already had a chance to get a taste of the Pokémon GO experience and decide if they like it or not, VR on the other hand remains a vast unknown for most, and it's only human to be curious about the unknown.
Thanks to Gamespot for the heads up.
