Pokémon GO Just Hit The 1 Billion Downloads Milestone

Ever since the very first moment that Pokémon Go hit Google Play and the App Store, it has been a smashing success, prompting millions of people from all over the world to start flocking to areas around their local towns and city in search of Pokémon to capture.  Still, many people dismissed it as nothing more than a temporary that would die out eventually. Well, the 1 billion downloads milestone that it just hit on the final day of July says otherwise.

It’s true that Pokémon GO is no longer a name that we here everywhere anymore, as those who have played it since the very beginning can probably attest, but it still has a strong and growing player base that seems to be quite happy with the direction the game is heading toward and what it is now allowing users to do while playing – the most notable of which being battling one another using the Pokémon that they’ve caught.

Needless to say, the fact that Pokémon GO managed to hit 1 billion downloads is a really impressive accomplishment, even if this number does not reflect completely unique downloads. Some are just re-download from people who played it for a while, dropped it, then later decided to make a return.

Unique or not, though, The Pokémon Company has clearly not been reluctant to boast about the details of its game’s newest achievement. On July 31, it was mentioned in some new videos on the official Pokémon YouTube channel, each one highlighting different strengths of Pokémon GO, from being a motivation for players to go out and exercise to letting them play together with family and friends.

Niantic, the studio behind this popular Pokémon-themed AR game, hosts a special Community Day for the game every month that usually adds some new content such as a new Pokémon (and since we’re on this topic, a side note: The latest Pokémon to make an appearance is the legendary Rayquaza). Sometimes there are even offline events held in certain places, attracting the attendance of a large number of players.

On top of these Community Days, The Pokémon Company also announced recently that Pokémon GO would be featured the Pokémon World Championships together with other popular titles in the franchise, so skilled players will have a chance to battle it out against one another for the title of global trainer champion.

These constant efforts to keep the game fresh by proving new content and events contribute a great deal to characterizing just how popular it actually is and how well it has stood the test of time. Yes, it had its flaws during its early days, having no combat system for players to compete with each other nor a way for them to exchange Pokémon – which are the two backbones of almost every other Pokémon games, those features were finally included over the years alongside many others, resulting in the Pokémon GO that we know today.

As of the moment, the game is in a pretty good state and arguably in the best position it's ever been since its release. Moreover, there doesn't seem to be any sign of it slowing down anytime soon. Although Niantic also recently launched Harry Potter: Wizards Unite – a new AR mobile game set in the wizarding world of Harry Potter, the first month of that game was nowhere near as huge as Pokémon GO was when it debuted.  Pokémon is a titan as an IP, so Niantic is undoubtedly going to invest more time and effort to improve Pokémon GO – which celebrated its third birthday last month – even further as it heads towards its fourth year.