‘Pokemon Go’ tops 10 million downloads in 1st 3 days of release

The global phenomenon "Pokemon Go" smartphone app topped 10 million downloads during its first three days of release in Japan, a figure that the wildly popular game "Puzzle & Dragons" took more than a year to achieve.

According to estimates by Tokyo research firm Values Inc., about 11.47 million people in Japan downloaded the smartphone game from July 22 to July 24, its first three days of release, meaning that about one in 10 people nationally were playing "Pokemon Go."

That compares with the 10 million downloads for "Puzzle & Dragons" in more than a year since its debut in 2012. "Puzzle & Dragons" was released by GungHo Online Entertainment Inc.

Now, more than a week since its release, the number of "Pokemon Go" players is believed to be rapidly increasing, although exact numbers have not been released.

The novelty of looking for and collecting Pokemon outdoors is cited as the main reason for the game's popularity.

"Yay! I caught one that I have never seen," is a cry from children heard across Japan since July 22.

Kids aren't the only ones obsessed with "Pokemon Go," as adults are totally immersed in the game as well.

The first installment of the Pokemon video game series, released in 1996, became a major hit with sales of about 76 million internationally. About 280 million Pokemon-related software have been sold worldwide.

The generations of people who were in elementary school when the series' first installments were released are now around 30 years old.

According to Values, those in their 20s accounted for the highest ratio of all "Pokemon Go" players who downloaded the app and activated it in the three-day period, at 34 percent. A Values official assumed that was because "past users rediscovered Pokemon."

However, whether users will maintain their interest in "Pokemon Go" over time remains to be seen. According to U.S. research firm SurveyMonkey, the number of users per day in the United States peaked a week after the game's release, at more than 25 million, but the number has since begun to gradually decline.

"New features may be added to the app later on, so we assume the boom will continue for a while," said an analyst at a major securities company.

(This article was written by Shiki Iwasawa, Koji Nishimura and Satoshi Shinden.)

Source: 'Pokemon Go' tops 10 million downloads in 1st 3 days of release