INDUSTRY

entertainment

Category

game publishing

products Profiled

Niantic’s suite of mobile games: Pokémon GO; Monster Hunter Now; Pikmin Bloom; Peridot; and Ingress Prime

H-Score

68

ranked 1st of 20 within the entertainment industry

ranked 12th of 76 overall

product descriptions

Niantic is a producer of augmented reality (AR) mobile games, focused on playing outside, that are available on the Apple iOS and Google Android smartphone platforms. Apps are downloadable for free, with in-app purchases associated with augmenting the game play experience. This analysis focuses on four games that Niantic currently produces: Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, Ingress Prime and Peridot.

Niantic’s Pokémon GO is a mobile smartphone app game, based on augmented reality technology, that superimposes game characters on smartphone views of real-world scenes, in real-world locations. Players compete by interacting with characters they encounter in these real-world, physical spaces.

Monster Hunter Now is a mobile game in which players go outside into the physical world to hunt down and battle with AR monsters.

Pikmin Bloom is a mobile game based on growing and nurturing virtual characters that follow you on outdoor walks. 

Peridot is a mobile game that centers around taking care of and bonding with virtual pets.

Ingress Prime is an upgraded version of Niantic’s original product, Ingress. It is a smartphone app, mobile AR-based game involving “portals” that can only be accessed and interacted with by traveling to their physical locations.

product use

Players typically interact with all of the games using a smartphone, or alternatively, in the case of Pokémon GO, a special purpose one-button GPS device. Pokémon GO and Ingress Prime require presence in specific geographic locations. Monster Hunter Now similarly requires presence in specific locations. Although players can perform some limited functions indoors, Pikmin Bloom requires players to walk outdoors to perform most game functions. Pikmin Bloom also functions as a step counter and life logger, generating summaries of walks at the end of each day. With the exception of Peridot, all of the games require physical movement and presence in outdoor locations. (While the game encourages outdoor activities, many of Peridot’s required tasks can be accomplished inside one’s residence.)(1) Games can be played individually or in cooperation with other players. Niantic has recently linked Campfire,(2) a social networking service that enables players to discover, connect with, and collaboratively play with other players who are located nearby, with all of its games.

who’s affected

All of Niantic’s games are available to adults and children over 13; Pokémon GO, Peridot and Pikmin Bloom are also available to younger children in the US with parental consent. The games require use of a smartphone. Eighty-five (85) percent of US residents own smartphones, with ownership higher among younger and more affluent populations.(3) Pokémon GO has historically been used more by men (56% of users in 2019) than by women. The Niantic games, especially Pokémon GO, are globally popular. Pokémon GO is estimated to have over 800,000 daily users in the U.S.(4)

influence on health-related behaviors

EATING

neutral influence

Niantic’s games have no clear direct influences on eating. However, businesses can sponsor locations so food outlets can advertise in the games. Niantic’s ad platform can serve ads to users who are in proximity to retail or food locations.(5)

PHYSICAL ACTVITY

moderate positive influence

Physically moving from one location to another is fundamental to the play of Niantic’s games and thus they promote physical activity by their users. Niantic’s 2023 Social Impact Report reported five (5) billion kilometers walked worldwide by players across all Niantic games.(6) The company’s Recap 2021 report notes that over 2 million of its worldwide players walked over 5 km per day on average.(7)

Research studies have also documented increases in physical activity associated with playing Pokémon GO.(8) A meta analysis examining 17 studies found a per user increase of over 1,400 steps per day – an amount the authors determined to be “statistically significant but clinically modest.”(9)

In addition, Niantic offers gaming incentives for physical activity in Pokémon GO.

Pikmin Bloom is specifically designed to encourage walking and includes weekly challenges based on achieving step count goals. Niantic reports that Pikmin Bloom users get about 10% more steps per day than the global average.(10)

neutral to slight negative influence

Despite most usage during daylight hours, research has shown that for some users, playing Pokémon GO competes with sleep. In one study 38% of users reported being “very likely” or “likely” to sacrifice sleep.(11)

In Building H’s own consumer research, 49% users of mobile games (not entirely but largely associated with Niantic’s games(12)) reported that playing the games did not cause them to lose any sleep. Thirty-seven (37) percent of users reported that playing the games caused them to lose one or more nights of sleep per week, with 11% reporting that it caused them to lose sleep four or more nights per week.(13)

Niantic has introduced an ability to reward sleep in Pokémon GO by connecting sleep data tracked through the Pokémon GO+ device to rewards in Pokémon GO.(14)

Niantic’s games might also influence sleep indirectly through their influences on physical activity and time spent outdoors, as both of those behaviors are positively correlated with better sleep.

Engaging Socially

slight to moderate positive influence

Niantic’s games encourage collaboration among players. Their 2022 Niantic Social Impact Report report lists 830 million “friendship connections” made worldwide.

Games are often played socially -- groups of players go out together in person. Pikmin Bloom offers collaborative challenges where users can invite friends to work together to meet goals for steps walked and virtual flowers planted.(16) Monster Hunter Now has several features that make gameplay more successful when done collaboratively.(17,18) Niantic’s Campfire app is designed to help players meet and play collaboratively with other players in their communities.(19)

By drawing people out into their communities, the games can also promote casual social contacts or incidental social interactions among community members -- even among fellow game players who see each other in popular locations. Niantic also organizes community events to bring its players together, facilitating over 2,000 such events in 2023.(20)

Building H’s own consumer research showed a mixture of social and solitary play.  Half of all users of mobile games (again, largely but not entirely users of Niantic games) reported playing games with others rarely or never; 12% reported always playing with others. Twenty (20) percent reported making at least one friend in the past year through playing mobile games and 18% reported meeting 10 or meeting people.(21)

Getting Outdoors

moderate to strong positive influence

The core underlying designs of the Niantic games almost always require physical presence either outdoors or in specific geographic locations, thus drawing users outdoors for nearly all interactions with the games.

Pikmin Bloom, in particular, is designed to encourage walking outdoors.

Return to 2024 Building H Index

1. Andrew Webster. Niantic’s adorable pet game Peridot is a next-gen Tamagotchi. The Verge, May 9, 2023.

2. Niantic Campfire. Niantic Labs website, accessed December 28, 2023.

3. Mobile Fact Sheet. Pew Research Center website. April 7, 2021.

4. J. Clement. Number of daily active users (DAU) of Pokémon Go via iPhone in selected countries in January 2021. Statista website. September 9, 2021.

5. Niantic Launches In-Game Rewarded AR Ad Format at Cannes Lions International Festival. Niantic Labs website. June 19, 2023.

6. Niantic Social Impact 2023: Using AR and Games to Build Connections & Communities. Niantic Labs website. December 12, 2023.

7. Niantic Recap 2021. Niantic Labs website. December 21, 2021

8. See, for example, Tim Althoff et al. Influence of Pokémon Go on Physical Activity: Study and Implications. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Volume 18, Number 12 (December 2016), which documented a 25% increase in daily steps taken (compared to previous activity levels) by Pokémon GO users.

9. Madina Khamiza et al. Impact of Pokémon Go on Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Volume 58, Issue 2 (February 2020), pp. 270-282.

10. Niantic Labs. New Features for Pikmin Bloom - Now with Social, Collaborative Gameplay! Niantic Labs website. July 11, 2022.

11. Victoria Wagner-Greene et al. Pokémon GO: Healthy or Harmful? American Journal of Public Health. Volume 107, Issue 1 (2017), p. 35.

12. Survey respondents were asked if they used mobile games, such as Pokémon GO, Harry Potter Wizards Unite (a former Niantic game), or Ingress Prime, that connects game play to physical location and to specify the game they played most often. Approximately 70% of respondents identified Niantic games as the ones they played most often.

13. Steve Downs. A Survey of Modern Life: Sleep; New Data on American Sleeping Patterns. Building H on Medium. May 25, 2021

14. Pokémon GO Plus + and Pokémon Sleep. Pokémon GO Help Center website, accessed December 28, 2023.

15. 2022 Niantic Social Impact Report. Niantic Labs website. December 16, 2022.

16. New Features for Pikmin Bloom - Now with Social, Collaborative Gameplay! Niantic Labs website. July 11, 2022.

17. Megan Farokhmanesh. Can 'Monster Hunter Now' Pull Niantic Out of Its Slump? WIRED. September 13, 2023.

18. “Monster Hunter Now” from Niantic and Capcom Launches Today. Niantic Labs website. September 13, 2023.

19. Introducing Campfire: Bringing More Real-World Social Experiences to Niantic Games. Niantic Labs website. June 30, 2022.

20. Niantic Social Impact 2023.

21. Carlo Martinez. A Survey of Modern Life: Entertainment. Building H on Medium. May 4, 2021