2016: Pokémon Go Madness : The augmented reality game Pokémon Go took the world by storm
2016: Pokémon Go Madness : The augmented reality game Pokémon Go took the world by storm

2016: Pokémon Go Madness : The augmented reality game Pokémon Go took the world by storm

Pokémon, gotta catch ’em all! In 2016, you surely couldn’t have missed this global event!

Credits: Timothy POURCHOT (M1 student in the CAWEB Master’s program)


This “madness,” as many called it, spread at lightning speed across all continents. What made this “Pokémon Go madness” unique was, first of all, its notoriety, which was achieved in just a few days—a tsunami that moved players around the world. Additionally, the originality of this mobile game required geographical movement to play.

If you missed this phenomenon in 2016, let us explain what you missed!

Pokémon Go is a game played solely on a smartphone, requiring an internet connection and access to your geographic location. You guessed it: to play, you need to leave your home and move around to find Pokémon hiding in your neighborhood. The rest of the game follows the usual Pokémon storyline; you move around in search of great finds: rare Pokémon.

But what about today? The madness is no longer making headlines; does that mean the game has lost its popularity?

It’s important to note that the app has lost more than two-thirds of its players, who numbered over 232 million in the first year after the game’s launch. That said, although the madness has drastically calmed, the video game company Niantic has no reason to complain about the number of players remaining on their app, with more than half a million active players simultaneously these days.

Credits: Timothy POURCHOT (M1 student in the CAWEB Master’s program)