Case
Teaching Notes
Abstract
When Niantic Inc. released Pokémon GO, it became the most downloaded app in the iOS store. By June 2017, Pokémon GO had 752 million downloads and earned approximately USD 1.2 billion in revenue, partially due to Niantic’s partnerships with companies such as Starbucks, T-Mobile, and Apple. However, the game’s success was short lived and began declining in popularity soon after its launch. A game that was ahead of its time and received record breaking downloads and attention, now seemed a thing of the past. This case examines contributing factors to the meteoric rise and decline of Pokémon GO, in particular issues with safety and stability, and the strategic marketing that brought on, but could not sustain, the game’s popularity.
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