The inside story of how Pokémon Go was created by a Google exec who got lost within the giant search company and how he persuaded his bosses to let him—and all those creatures— go free.
It’s not hard to spot players of the most popular smartphone game of all time. They have a peculiar way of carrying their devices in front of them with one hand, says John Hanke, the technology whiz behind Pokémon Go, as we stroll along the waterfront of San Diego’s Seaport Village the day before his appearance in front of 7,000 fans at Comic-Con.
“They’re playing,” says the 49-year- old, nodding at a couple holding hands while their eyes fixate on their phones. “That guy standing with the backpack. Those people sitting over there.”
Since its July launch Pokémon Go, a free “augmented reality” game by Niantic Labs in which players capture virtual characters mapped to real-world locations, has piled up superlatives. Apple said the game had more downloads in its first week than any other app in history. One in 10 Americans plays Pokémon Go daily, according to App Annie, and SurveyMonkey estimates that the game is hauling in as much as $6 million a day from in-app purchases in the US alone (the game is available in 37 countries). Beyond the numbers, Hillary Clinton has invoked the game on the campaign trail, Justin Bieber has gone Poké-hunting in Central Park, and a reporter was publicly chided for playing it at a State Department briefing.
This story is from the September 2, 2016 edition of Forbes India.
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This story is from the September 2, 2016 edition of Forbes India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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