Building H Index

 

Niantic

 
 

INDUSTRY

entertainment

products Profiled

Pokémon GO

Pikmin Bloom

Ingress Prime

 
 

H-Score

 

68

ranked 1st of 7 within entertainment industry

ranked 4th (tie) of 37 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 three games that Niantic currently produces: Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom and Ingress Prime.

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.

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

Ingress Prime is an upgraded version of Niantic’s original product, Ingress. Like Pokémon GO and Wizards Unite, 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 usage

 

Players typically interact with all three 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, though Niantic has adapted the games during COVID-19 to enable play from within one’s home. 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. All three games require physical movement and presence in outdoor locations. Games can be played individually or in cooperation with other players. People tend to play these games mostly during the day.

The Niantic games, especially Pokémon GO, are globally popular. Pokémon GO is estimated to have over 800,000 daily users in the U.S.(1) 

 

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 does consider health, along with other factors, before accepting a sponsorship deal.

 

opportunities:

  • Be explicit about how it considers health impacts of potential advertisers.
 
 

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 2021 Social Impact, Diversity and Inclusion Report documented 6.93 billion kilometers walked by players across all Niantic games.(2) The company’s Recap 2021 report notes that over 2 million of its worldwide players walked over 5 km per day on average.(3) 

Research studies have also documented increased physical activity associated with playing Pokémon GO.(4)

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

Niantic modified some of the features of Pokémon GO in 2020, as many users were increasingly locked down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes made it easier to play Pokémon GO indoors and not interact with other people. Niantic began to roll back those changes in the summer of 2021, generating a large outcry from users.(5) Niantic ultimately compromised on the changes.

Pikmin Bloom is specifically designed to encourage walking.

 

opportunities:

  • Monitor the impact of rules changes on users’ physical activity levels.
 
 

Sleeping

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.(6)

In Building H’s own consumer research, 49% users of mobile games (not entirely but largely associated with Niantic’s games(7)) 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.(8)

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.

 

opportunities:

  • Enable users to set a bedtime mode, as with iOS and Android, such that they can specify the hours when they hope to go to sleep and then respect those hours by making the user choose affirmatively to initiate or continue game play once the bedtime or wind-down time arrives.
 
 

Engaging Socially

slight to moderate positive influence

 

Niantic’s games encourage collaboration among players. Their 2021 Social Impact, Diversity and Inclusion Report report cites 367 million “friendship connections” made.(9)

Games are often played socially -- groups of players go out together in person.

By drawing people out into their communities, the games can promote casual social contacts or incidental social interactions among community members -- even among fellow game players who see each other in popular locations.

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.(10) 

 

opportunities:

  • Monitor the impact of rules changes on users’ social activity levels.
 
 

Getting Outdoors

moderate to strong positive influence

 

The core underlying designs of the Niantic games almost always require physical presence 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.

 
 
 
 

Notes

 

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

  2. Niantic Labs. 2021 Social Impact, Diversity and Inclusion Report. Niantic Labs website. December 15, 2021

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

  4. See, for example, Tim Althoff et al. Influence of Pokémon Go on Physical Activity: Study and Implications. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Vol 18, No 12 (2016): December, which documented a 25% increase in daily steps taken (compared to previous activity levels) by Pokémon GO users.

  5. Blaise Deveny. Pokémon GO Players Plan To Boycott the Game Over Removed Bonuses. Screenrant, August 4, 2021

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

  7. 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.

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

  9. Niantic Labs. 2021 Social Impact, Diversity and Inclusion Report

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