The Pokémon GO Experience

TLDR

Pokémon GO, a location‑based augmented‑reality mobile game from the Pokémon franchise, launched globally in July 2016 and quickly became the most popular and revenue‑generating mobile game, marking the first mainstream success of location‑based AR gaming. The study investigates players’ experiences with Pokémon GO by surveying 1,000 Finnish participants to identify positive and negative aspects. Researchers conducted a qualitative survey of 1,000 Finnish players, collecting self‑reported perceptions of the game’s features and social dynamics. Players reported positive experiences linked to movement, sociability, game mechanics, and brand, while negative experiences stemmed from technical issues, unequal opportunities, disruptive behavior, and unpolished design; augmented‑reality features, safety, and the free‑to‑play model received little feedback, and the results inform both academia and industry on designing location‑based AR games.

Abstract

Pokémon GO is a location-based augmented reality mobile game based on the Pokémon franchise. After the game was launched globally in July 2016, it quickly became the most successful mobile game in both popularity and revenue generation at the time, and the first location-based augmented reality game to reach a mainstream status. We explore the game experiences through a qualitative survey (n=1000) in Finland focusing on the positive and the negative aspects of Pokémon GO as told by the players. The positive experiences are related to movement, sociability, game mechanics, and brand while the negative experiences emerge from technical problems, unequal gaming opportunities, bad behavior of other players and non-players, and unpolished game design. Interestingly, the augmented reality features, safety issues or the free-to-play revenue model did not receive considerable feedback. The findings are useful for academics and industry practitioners for studying and designing location-based augmented reality game experiences.