If PoGo is a social game, why was it at its peak during COVID-era, when Niantic had to prioritize the solo playing experience?
by EquivalentReality988
Pokemon Go
If PoGo is a social game, why was it at its peak during COVID-era, when Niantic had to prioritize the solo playing experience?
by EquivalentReality988
41 Comments
There were literally stampedes in the streets for Pokemon in 2016. We can have fun about game quality all we want, but the peak was 2016 when the game launched, and it’ll probably never be like that again.
I stopped beeing introvert, met a lot of cool people and leading my local group now. I love that Niantic tried to kill remote because it really damaged the game.
Because life is fast and scheduling is hard. For as much as we would all like to prioritize our fun things, the real world and real life always gets in the way. Hence, scheduling and time limits go poof.
I met my wife playing this game. Our local discord group had regular potluck meet-ups for summertime community days. Attendance numbered in the hundreds.
From my perspective, COVID ruined this game. Well that and the money-grubbing devs squeezing more and more out of people.
lmao you can look at ANY mobile game player count from covid and see higher player count/dollar spent. Taking a massive outlier of a year and using it as a benchmark for future business plans isn’t something successful companies do…
Well, I enjoy playing alone. It’s a good way to relax after work, walk around in nature, etc.
Niantic and many extroverts don’t understand, that not everyone like interacting with people in their free time. That’s why they force multiplayer tasks (e.g. in person only raids, party challenges, etc.) to progress in some research. Their motto seems to be: _I like talking to people, so everyone has to as well_
Anyone who says that PoGo peaked during COVID clearly didn’t play pre-covid man y’all are fucking insane.
The game was actually so fucking alive and there were always TONS of players who came together to play, no matter if it was Raid Hour or Comm Day or Go Fest. COVID fucking destroyed all of that.
The game is just now starting to recover again in my area and this summer was actually the first time where the old feeling kind of came back.
Stop glorifying COVID. Everything fucking sucked during that time, including Pokemon Go.
It peaked during covid because everyone was bored and had nothing else to do and also being outside was one safe-ish way of hanging out with people. It has always been a social game and I feel like people who don’t understand that are living on a different planet.
2016-2019 was amazing for pogo. Raiding was great, regularly 10-15 showing up for 4 star raids and then later legendary raids.
We’d all gather up in my work area with 15 or so and knock out raids on a regular basis. This was peak and was great letting many of us make new friends. Many of us still get together and play together. It’s a great social game for this era!
That’s because the game became more open for general audiences. No shit it’s going to have more players in the same way the generic Disney slop being pumped out now is earning more money than niche movies that focus on something.
The game was designed, and still is to a degree, to get people outside and together. This naturally adds a LOT of friction to play the game with having to schedule your time for events and having to actually interact with people if you wanted the best things. Naturally when you remove those frictions more people are willing to play but at the same time it erodes the game’s identity.
Pokemon was at its peak pre COVID when it was actually about going out and catching pokemon with friends.
me when my motorized scooter dies on me after 3 in person raids
Damn, it’s almost like a single ounce of critical thought would give you your answer, OP.
Vanilla ice cream is also popular when it’s the only thing they serve. COVID didn’t leave people with many options and once they had options many people switched back to other things.
I like the social aspect of the game and right now it feels very neutered
Speak for yourself
Insane take
…are you serious?
First of all, its peak was 2016. Hands down. Nothing will ever beat that summer.
Second, you’re asking why virtual entertainment hit a peak during a time when all people had to do was virtual entertainment?
PoGo was different during lockdown because it **had** to be different. It’s not a console game. It was never meant to be played on the couch in front of your TV. The entire design philosophy was “get people to **leave** their houses, get walking and meet with their community.”
I honestly don’t understand why this is such a complicated concept.
They seemingly just literally flipped a switch to allow remote trading and they can’t even give us a little break and offer it as a perk or mini event? Hell, charge coins for a trade amplifier or something just don’t make me keep having to meet up with randos I haven’t seen in 5 years for them to ask me for something I don’t have because I don’t raid anymore. I’ve been stuck on level 48 for like 3 years and I barely have half of the trades done. My stored XP to level requirement XP is laughably unbalanced atp.
COVID PoGo didn’t “prioritize the solo player experience.” They slapped band-aid fixes on the game so that it wouldn’t become completely unplayable when large group gatherings (and in some cases and times even just going outside) was not possible. Those band-aid fixes don’t really make the game better in the long run. Remote raids are not a fun experience. They’re not a solo experience. They’re not even “Pokemon in the real world.” They’re just loot boxes with extra steps. Join a lobby, tap the screen for 1-3 minutes, hope for a shiny. That’s not fun.
Granted, I’m not saying the current state of the game is great either. Non-remote raids are just loot boxes that you have to gather enough real people at a specific spot to unlock. I would love for PoGo to have a strong exploration component again like it did in 2016.
I’m not normally one to defend Niantic, but this argument takes so many things out of consideration and barely scratches the surface of reality. Not surprising though considering OP puts so much effort into complaining about the game and hating on Niantic. Not sure why they still play, but that’s beside the point I suppose.
Comparing anything to it’s COVID-era equivalent is pretty unfair. Most people had more free time than they they even knew what to do with (Dalgona coffee or fresh baked bread anyone?), and they were bored. It’s natural there were way more players and people spending money out of boredom.
The game was 100% in person upon release, and, for those of us that were there, it was pretty damn magical. Everyone was playing, and everyone was outside to do it. I would say that although I don’t agree with many decisions Niantic has made in recent years I can still see how they are pushing and sticking with their long term vision to get it at least somewhat back to the glory days.
Sometimes I wonder if the people of this sub know they don’t have to play the game? Like, you don’t have to do all of the research, you don’t have to complete the go pass, you don’t have to “catch ’em all”, you don’t have to max out your legendaries, and you certainly don’t have to do everything right now this instant.
Like, just breathe you guys. You don’t want to trade? Then don’t trade! “But then how am I supposed to fill my Pokedex?” Well, maybe you’re not. Or maybe it will take a decade. The game is the “prize”. You don’t get anything other than a sliver of a sense of accomplishment out of it. The process of simply playing is supposed to be fun.
This is a legitimate criticism, which i say as someone who regularly tells people to stop whining about the game.
I have a few pet peeves. The most major one is…look, I go outside. I run in the park and all that. But I do not look at my damn phone while im out running or walking around town. I do not want to be outside in nature and staring at a screen. I dont want my kids playing this game, on downtown streets in cities they’re not familiar with, spinning pokestops instead of being aware of their surroundings. For my part, I sure dont want to be caught playing this game in public by anybody I know.
I do, however, wish they could play in the car while we are driving somewhere. I do wish the incense did what it should do, which is attract pokemon to you while stationary, instead of just making one more thing spawn in the middle of everything else that spawns in a park or whatever. Back in 2016, my then-girlfriend (now wife) lived at the other end of a bike trail, and we rode our bikes back and forth. We both got handlebar mounts for our phones so we could play the game. It took us way too long to figure out we werent getting distance on eggs or buddies because being on a bike and going faster than walking speed is against the spirit of the game.
Its a fundamental mismatch between what Niantic views as “the right way” to play the game and the way I actually want to play the game.
Edit, I keep thinking of more examples… I had cancer from late 2016 to 2019. We stopped playing the game because it was totally pointless, there was literally nothing that I could do. I was stuck at home and in hospitals in strict isolation long before covid.
The summer of 2016 was the closest the world came to achieving peace, thanks to PoGo.
Those of us that were there miss those days and COVID only had us going solo because we had no other choice.
The peak was pre-COVID and I will hear no arguments otherwise.
Nah, PoGo lives from people cooperating, most people would stop playing after 2 weeks if it wasnt for community and playing with other people
How are you going to say it peaked during COVID when there were literally people causing chaos in 2016?
2016 POGO in July was the closest to world peace we’ve had in a long time
Pokemon Go was way past its peak during covid. Covid brought a resurgence to nearly every game due to people having much more free time due to the lock down.
Remote raid passes and new pokemon FOMO make too much money to say no to playing alone.
COVID era = because so many people were furloughed which meant they had loads of free time, their usual income, and no commuting expenses.
Probably why Pokémon TCG Pocket is running laps around GO right now.
were you around during launch? maybe they made more money in 2020 but peak was the summer of 2016 when everybody played it, even the cops that were called because of noise and full local parks at 22:00
There’s so much I haven’t done because of trading and parties and groups to defeat megas and all that. I’m just not out and about when others are I guess, but for all the gyms around me, it’s pretty quiet.
Serious players multi-account and raid without others regardless.
Casual players don’t have the contacts or investment to make raids happen consistently.
COVID-era gameplay empowered casual players to develop a more invested interest by raiding more regularly.
everyone is saying 2016 was peak but 2020 was the game’s highest revenue year by like +80% compared 2016. Whether or not the player count was as high, the number of players who were both emotionally and monitarily invested was definitely higher in 2020
Covid era introduced a lot of great quality of life changes to the game, including remoting raiding passes at their best. Niantic slowly pulled away from these changes when the world normalized a bit more. I stopped playing at that point and never looked back.
This subreddit randomly pops up in my feed at times (for those who will ask “then why are you still here????”)
I think pre Covid was the peak (besides 2016 release), like the second half of 2019
They really should teach data literacy in schools.
2016 pogo was closest to world peace
Peak was 2016-2017 but with social distancing, parks were one activity that many times people could do. I played during that time and it was cool to see someone in the same raid as you even if you couldn’t see them.
Though I feel bad for the one star fletching with three trainers raiding for it, didn’t stand a chance