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Pokemon Go’s phenomenal early success has seen the free-to-play game surpass Facebook and Twitter in popularity among mobile phone users in the US.
The augmented reality game was the most downloaded smartphone app in the States when it was released last week and, while we await its official release in the UK, it appears as though mobile users across the Atlantic are smitten with the game.
A study by mobile app intelligence firm Sensor Tower revealed that the game was played for an average of 33 minutes on Monday in the US.
By contrast, the Facebook app’s daily usage was 22 minutes ahead of Snapchat (18) and Twitter (17).
Pokemon Go installs have surpassed 15 million on the App Store and Google Play. Nintendo, a company that owns 33% of Pokemon but is only indirectly linked with Pokemon Go, has seen its shares jump to a level not seen since 1983 – when the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was first released.
The surge has seen Nintendo’s market value rise £6 billion.
The next step for Niantic, which developed the mobile game, will be to find ways to maintain its popularity.
While the game has proved a hit, it still trails behind the most popular mobile games on iOS.
“It ranked below the hardcore juggernaut of MZ’s Game Of War at nearly two hours of total daily usage for the average user, and King’s Candy Crush Saga, which has an average total daily usage of about 43 minutes,” the data-led post from Sensor Tower read.
