It’s been just under 2 months since the initial release of Pokémon GO, but could the augmented reality game already be declining in popularity? According to Axiom Capital Management that answer is yes.
This decline in play could be for numerous reasons. Many players expressed outrage late July when Niantic released an update to the game that not only disabled the in-game tracker but broke many 3rd party tracking tools as well. It could also be that players have already caught the Pokémon native to their area and without a reason to keep going out, elect to engage in other activities.
When Pokémon GO launched I do not think that anyone, Niantic included, could have anticipated just how popular the game would be. Personally I filled the majority of my Pokédex within the first couple weeks of release. I still went out because it was fun and I was always chasing higher level Pokémon. Since the beginning of August I have not gone out nearly as much as I first did. Part of this was because of the broken tracking in the game itself and part of that is also because of the heat wave my area of the world found itself in. It was simply too hot to go out and wander to maybe get a Pokémon or two.
The three legendary birds that are tied to the in-game teams have not yet been released, nor has Mewtwo. I am sure that people will begin playing again once it becomes clear how they are going to be caught. Niantic more than likely also has plans to release the other generations of Pokémon into the game at some point, something they were probably planning to put off for at least a few more months.
In the end I think Pokémon GO was always destined to stagnate a little, just like an MMO between expansions. Without new content, there is no reason to entice play, other than occasionally. Niantic has to do something, sooner rather than later, if they want to continue the game’s popularity with more than just hardcore Pokémon fans.
