It had to happen eventually. The wildly-popular Pokémon Go has started to shed users, according to tracking data from Axiom Capital Management. Which could be a bad thing but you have to consider just how many users there actually are.
The augmented reality app saw close to 45 million daily users in July 2016, a fine crop of interested parties by anyone’s standards. August saw those numbers drop by around 12 million daily users. A substantial drop but one that leaves Pokémon Go with more than 30 million daily active users.
Downloads and engagements are also on a downward trend, according to data from Sensor Tower, SurveyMonkey, and Apptopia. But the drop-off is making a few other companies (and investors) sleep a little easier at night.
Axiom Capital Management’s Victor Anthony said that “Given the rapid rise in usage of the Pokémon Go app since the launch in July, investors have been concerned that this new user experience has been detracting from time spent on other mobile focused apps”, adding that a continued downward trend for Pokémon Go could point towards a short life-span, for the game itself and AR apps in general…
Of course there are still countries out there that don’t have an official Pokémon Go release yet (including South Africa) so there’s still a strong chance for resurgence. If you need to resurge from more than 30 million daily users, that is. Niantic seems to be committed to the game for the long haul so we can expect updates that may pull back some of the lost users in the coming months. Plus, you know, entire new countries coming online.
Source: Bloomberg
