'Pokémon Go' Has Gone Viral

It's an awkward moment when the perils of our digital immersion as a species are exposed. What do people really care about? Well it seems that mobile gaming meeting augmented reality could be somewhat addictive! 

The location based augmented reality mobile game, is hitting the streets around the world, literally! You know the drill, fuzzy Pokémons are running amok on planet Earth, except not! It's us, it's like a fantasy version of google maps. Hatch, snatch and training them up. 

It's been recently announced that Pokemon Go has new active users on it spending more time there than such go-to apps such as Facebook, Tinder, Snapchat, Twitter and others. If that's not a sign of success, viral spread will do the rest. 

Over 60% of those who have downloaded the app in the US are using it daily, meaning around 3% of the entire US Android population are users of the app

Is it scary or scary cool? Daily users of Pokemon Go are already approaching Twitter's user base. Time spent on the app is the really impressive feat. #pokemongo

To be above half an hour a day of activity is beating out Facebook's immersive ability. Mobile gaming was never not popular, but this is taking it to another level.

While memes can be amusing, how this has gone viral is unprecedented in a sense, with users outside of the US going so far as to download Pokémon GO using an apk, bypassing the official app store. 

In a world as connected as we are, if the latest craze goes "viral" it really goes global. 

Pokemon Go is making in excess of $1.5 Million a day and is expected to earn $1 billion this year. 

A NEW WAY FOR EVENTS, STORES AND BRANDS TO ATTRACT PEOPLE

Because it is a game that blends the weirdly new virtual world of Pokémon with real life, there's already talk of "no-go" zones. Since players can tag real-life locations, which are designated as PokeStops and Gyms, where other players can collect their cartoon-like Pokémon characters, it's both concerning and immersive. 

Retailers and shop-keepers have come up with clever ways to attract customers via in game $ (to Nintendo btw) that can lure rare Pokémon to specific geographical locations - usually inside their shops. So you get where this is going right? It's like the Matrix with cute bunnies and what not. 

That a mobile AR (augmented reality) game is sending legions of players scurrying and hiking around cities catching virtual monsters on their smart phones, is hard to believe. But what if you too could catch a "Starmie" or a "Poliwag", even sleepy retail stores can become monster-hunting meccas apparently. 

SWEEPING THE WORLD IN CUTENESS 

The game was released in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States on July 6, 2016. On July 13, 2016, Pokémon Go was released in Germany for both Android and iOS devices

If you haven't heard of it, it may be because the app is only one week old and has only today debuted in Europe, in Germany. Nothing quite like a game to help Europe forget Brexit. This is Virtual reality's coming out party in a sense, while this is technically augmented reality. 

Besides being really good for Nintendo's stock, this game is pointing to another level of how mobile devices can impact consumer behavior and even digital trends. Branded as a "fantasy version of google maps" is no joke, it's an AR innovation created by the San Francisco-based startup Niantic Labs, a game maker spun out of Google itself. 

Many see the location based AR channel as having huge potential for how smartphones can scale with AR and VR. The hype is real in a sense, as this simple mobile app has captured the imagination of the public and not simply gamers. 

Have you tried the app? How do you see AR and VR scaling in your industry?