'Pokemon Go' Rumors: COVID-19 Pandemic Gives Niantic An Uncanny Boost

KEY POINTS

Number of Pokemon Go players spiking

Niantic tweaks in-game features

Spawn rates have increased and shop items have been discounted

With most folks holed up at home, people are left with no recourse but to find some means to keep themselves occupied. And in the case of "Pokemon Go," it appears that the augmented reality game has benefited from it with more players logging on.

The weird thing about it is that most know that "Pokemon Go" players can only garner success if they move around and take part in special events. Movement is limited for most parts of the world although data shows Niantic is reaping dividends the past week per Sensor Tower. The game has raked in about $23 million, up 66.7 percent from the previous week.

With no events, a good explanation for this is that some Pokemon are spawning in some areas. Though some may not be rare or something worth collecting, "Pokemon Go" players are using the forced lull to keep themselves occupied. According to Venturebeat, Niantic has applied some increased spawn rates of monsters, making it easier for gamers to capture monsters even when constrained to their homes.

A large chunk of the 23 million reportedly came from the United States. Some have even gone to the extent of spending in the game, estimated to be in the vicinity of $7.8 million with Niantic giving discounts on special stuff like insense packs. Eggs twice as fast but somehow this could be of less interest with most confined to their homes.

Niantic has already canceled some events such as the Abra Community Day and the all Safari Zone events. Legendary Raids are likely to follow with the company trying to adjust even if it is a socially-focused game.

Like most companies, Niantic is trying to adapt to the coronavirus issue by making tweaks to "Pokemon Go." It is a pretty precarious situation for them and the best they can, for now, is just to see what the game brings once they open it. With more Pokemon lurking, it explains why some are going after those incense packs. Rather than go out and look for them, augmented reality players can now stay indoors and use incense to attract the pocket monsters. It remains to be seen if Niantic will up the stakes and include some old critters or even rares to keep people occupied from the unfortunate pandemic.

Pokemon Go Photo: Eduardo Woo/Wikimedia Creative Commons