Pokemon Go: Why Are Players Abandoning It?

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The mobile game Pokemon Go, which was released on July 6, allowed players to actually become real Pokemon hunters. Within a week, excitement about the mobile game superseded that of every other game, making it the fastest game to lead both the Google Play and App Store in downloads. However, now many users have stopped playing it or cut back on the amount of time they spend playing it.

Why did users stop playing Pokemon Go?

Pokemon Go became the fastest mobile app to reach 10 million downloads, according to SensorTower. Upon release, the game was not perfect, but it still got a lot of support, receiving around 45 million daily users. Now, however, 15 million daily users have stopped playing the game, according to Bloomberg.

Even the most dedicated of players have not been playing as much. Emelio Almendarez, a 20-year-old Tennessee Tech student, told The Tennessean that his playtime has definitely been reduced. He said the first real changes by the gaming giant were the reason as the changes made the game less user-friendly.

“I think it was one of the first major updates they had when they got rid of the tracking and just left a radial area for you to wander off into.”

Also the tracking system has been a topic of debate, with many believing that the gaming giant has yet to get it correct. The popular game began with a quite simple system by using footsteps to denote how far away the Pokemon were. However, this was eliminated after the first major update, notes The Tennessean.

Updates not positive and not up-to-date

Niantic, the game’s developer, has also been censured for the content of its updates. Since the beginning, the gaming company has made regular updates, but some players think the changes are not up-to-date or positive.

Barb McClatchey, a senior member of FedEx’s IT department and one of the company’s mobile app developers, said, “You have to constantly stay current and constantly be a student” to stay relevant in this industry.

She thinks that an app should be able to be properly used by a variety of users for it to be successful.

What changes are needed?

Despite the drop in popularity, Pokemon Go is still enjoyed by about 30 million daily users. Many of these players and those who have stopped or cut back on playing are hoping that Niantic will soon make some serious changes to the game.

On what features must be added, one player suggested to The Tennessean, “something to where players can communicate and play together needs to be added. I think they should start releasing more Pokemon and add different functions, like side quests, to keep people interested.”

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