There are two ways to look at the latest player numbers from Pokémon Go. The first is to say that things are downright peachy; after all, no one is going to scoff at five million players on a daily basis. You could, however, also point out that this down from a high around 28 million, which translates to an 80% loss in about a year. That may indicate a downward trend, which is more worrisome. You choose the narrative you wish to attach to the numbers!
Whatever narrative you prefer, it’s fairly clear that a lack of requested features, issues with battling and monster distribution, and the general fading novelty of the title all contributed to the drop. Only time will tell if the recent update adding the second generation of Pokémon into the game will reverse the trend over the long term or not.
Last week, Massively OP’s Andrew Ross penned a Soapbox on his frustration that the game still appears to be a tech demo. Worth a read if you’re also wondering about the game’s many problems!
