Pokémon GO broke all records, peaked, now declining in the U.S.

21 Feb 2019

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has officially confirmed that the current sensational augmented reality-based mobile game Pokémon GO has broken all its previous App Store records with the most downloaded app in the launch week of any app. However, the peak of the app downloads in the US has apparently reached already and the number has started to decline.

With all of the media attention Pokémon GO received in the past couple of weeks, the game has grabbed the attention of most of the iPhone users and it became a smash hit during the launch. The game has started a new period in the smartphone-era, where people began to socialize physically and engage with each other in the process of getting out, explore the cities, search new breed of tiny Pokémon monsters and catch them. Previously, social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram have also helped people to socialize, but virtually.

Apple Inc. has officially confirmed that Pokémon GO is the highest downloaded application on iOS and broken all previous records just one week after the launch. With the popularity it has gained through iOS app, the developer Niantic has also launched the game for Android users in different phases for different countries. So far, the game has crossed over 30 million downloads on both Android and iOS platform.

Since the amount of press it received and social media attention it has grabbed, it’s not a big surprise that Pokémon GO has broken all records as the most downloaded app. Although if you haven’t played the game yet, I bet you have heard about it, saw people playing the game, read about it in newspapers and social media posts and discussions, and through many other ways. That was the natural hype the game has gotten, luckily.

The phenomenon of Pokémon GO has grown in no time and it looks like the rise has already seen its peakin the last week in the US. Since last week, the installs, number of active users and the search interest has seen a decline, according to SurveyMonkey. The most popular survey company has gone beyond the download numbers to gauge Pokémon GO’s current popularity.

“We’re ready to call it. The USA has hit peak Pokémon GO. The game grew incredibly quickly, eclipsing even Google Maps, but its decline has begun,” notes SurveyMonkey. “In the US, Pokemon GO’s usage (daily active users) peaked on July 14, download numbers peaked on the launch day and the search interest has peaked on July 16.”

This chart shows that the ‘Daily Active Users’ number has reached its peak on July 14, just one week after the launch day. On that day, there were 25 million active players registered. These numbers have remained flat for a few more days and started to decline. On July 20, the game has witnessed 22 million daily active users.

This chart shows the most downloaded day of Pokémon GO is its launch day in the US, i.e., July 7. The point to note here is, the other previous record holder apps such as Draw Something and Candy Crush Saga were peaked after a few days of the release, while Pokémon GO hit the peak on the first day of launch.

Finally, the search interest of Pokémon GO has also started to fade since July 16. The search interest was in relatively flat peak from July 13 to July 16. The search interest is directly related to the downloads and usage of the app, since the most searched app sees the most downloads on the same day.

We aren’t saying that the overall interest on Pokémon GO has declined, but the boom has ended and the cooling process has begun already. The game has already witnessed the master player of the Pokémon GO in the US, who has managed to catch all tiny 142 Pokémon monsters. The player from New York has claimed all Pokémons available in the US in just two weeks.

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