Pokemon GO Makes More Money During COVID-19 Outbreak as It Changes Its Gameplay

During this COVID-19 period, non-Pokemon GO gamers are exploring the different worlds that their backlog of games has to offer right from their couch.

At least, that’s what I’m doing while pretending the FF7 remake doesn’t exist so I don’t spend 80 bucks on an impulse.

And you’re probably wondering what does Pokemon GO got to do with you, who don’t play Pokemon GO and really don’t care if they are making profits.

So here’s a reason why you should: some Pokemon GO players still insist on going out to play the game.

Oh, and it’s not just in our country or an elderly thing. A 31-year-old was charged in Italy for flouting lockdown rules. His reason?

“I have to hunt the Pokemon.”

Collectively speaking, Niantic maintaining profits (or making more in this case) is a good thing because it means there won’t be idiots like those two going outside and be free transport vehicles for any virus.

And now you’re wondering how a game which main gameplay shtick was to have people go out managed to get this beautiful profits graph:

Which is a week-over-week growth of 67% during the week of 16 March 2020.

And that’s the best week of profits in 2020, with downloads also spiking to 1.6 million first-time installs over the week of 9 March.

Wait, does that mean Pokemon GO is the main reason why the coronavirus is spreading like wildfire?

Well, no.

That’s partly because of an event that happened that week, but there is also a multitude of things Niantic did.

Improvements To The Game

The obvious thing they had to do was stop stupid people from going out using Pokemon GO as an excuse, so they halted game events that rewarded players for going out to meet other players.

Then they adjusted game mechanics. Distances to hatch Pokemon eggs were halved. More rewards spawn from PokeStops. Pokemon spawn rates were upped. This meant that players can continue playing while travelling shorter distances.

Wait a min. Doesn’t this mean they still have to travel?

Kind of, but not really. You see, previously the game was always criticised for making Pokemon spawn only at urban places where there are a lot of people.

(Which doesn’t make sense to a non-Pokemon GO player, since they are wild Pokemon and not urban Pokemon… but what do I know?)

So many players living in rural areas (like many states in America) had to travel to the city just to catch Pokemon and do high-level raids. And Singaporeans had to go to Hougang.

In fact, some even say that these changes should be permanent.

And then Niantic offered a one-time purchase bundle of 30 Incense (an item that spawns Pokemon at your location even if you’re not moving) for just 1 PokeCoin. Which is, basically free if you played the game normally.

That sounds temporary, and it kind of is. But Niantic had a few more steps in their plan to be introduced soon.

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They’re improving step tracking in the app so activities like cleaning your house and running on treadmills, can also count as game achievements. In-game social features are now improved so raids with friends can be done from home. Live events are then planned for the home.

Which all sounds like good adaptations to the situation.

Reader: So, they’re making the Pokemon GO game more like the normal Pokemon games, but extra steps?

Wait a minute.

You’re right.

It Might Not Be Sustainable

In fact, some players had already been complaining that the measures aren’t enough.

For one, players aren’t getting enough Pokeballs, since they are still limited from going to Pokestops to get them.

A Reddit user wrote in the Pokemon Go subreddit:

“Sure, we can’t walk around to catch pokemon so luring them to us is super useful. But for those of us who don’t live anywhere close to a pokestop, we can’t spin for more pokeballs. … I have no way to spin stops right now. … I’m lucky if get 30 pokeballs a day from opening gifts. The catch rate hasn’t been altered, so I might catch 15 pokemon with 30 balls if I have a really good day. In reality, if I want to actually continue playing pokemon go during this pandemic, I’ll have to start dropping $10 to get 200 pokeballs every few days.”

I don’t know about you, but at some point, I’ll just take out my Game Boy and play some Pokemon Gold where I know I’m not limited in my gaming activities.

Oh yeah, I’m old school.