"Pokemon Go" may have started on a high note when it launched in July 2016. However, some say that the hit mobile game is losing its momentum since there is not much to do.
"Pokemon Go" by Niantic Labs garnered millions of players within a week after its release. However, data from Axiom Capital Management presented that the rise of the mobile game stopped after two weeks. The numbers have declined since mid-July, with user engagement and daily active users having dropped by about 30 percent from their peak.
The initial retention of "Pokemon Go" is reportedly worse compared to other mobile games. Some analysts even began to doubt the long-term viability of the entire augmented reality gaming genre. However, others think that it is still too early to speculate on how "Pokemon Go" will continue to fare in the next few months.
Forbes noted that the huge rise in the popularity of "Pokemon Go" can be attributed to classic Pokemon fans who wanted to experience the classic franchise once again. It also applies for new players who were interested in the augmented reality gaming category.
"Pokemon Go" initially featured the basic activities in the game, such as catching Pokemon in the wild and acquiring items at gyms and PokeStops. However, Niantic has to showcase more if it plans to maintain the game's progress.
Players started to point out some of the issues that may hurt "Pokemon Go" unless it makes the necessary changes. There is no introduction to the basic principles and gameplay. Hunting Pokemon in the wild can be fun in the beginning, but immediately starts to lose steam after a few days. There are no quests or other ways to level monsters, while some gyms feature very powerful monsters that would render "Pokemon Go" trainers who started the game later quite useless.
The combat mechanics are also quite simple while some stated that the controls are unresponsive. Niantic needs to provide more features in "Pokemon Go," such as allowing actual battles between players even without gyms, trading and advanced gameplay mechanics. More updates and details on "Pokemon Go" are expected soon.
