Hisham Sarwar
App Annie, an App Store intelligence firm says Pokémon Go hits 100 million installations last weekend.
I wanted to take a moment, take a deep breath and try to figure out what exactly made Pokémon GO’ a massive hit (given it has not hit the global scene yet completely and the stats are from handful number of countries).
One thing is for sure, it’s success has not come at the expense of other mobile games apps. As a matter of fact, it surely has opened up new revenue opportunities for the entire app ecosystem. Startups will be encouraged to come up with more exciting ideas because they have seen and witnessed, one amazing idea can take the world of app by storm instantly.
Revenue:
Do you know, Pokémon Go app is earning daily revenue of over $10 million on iOS and Google Play stores combined. The number seems to be destined to go higher in near future. Its been only three weeks the app has launched, the success it has gained is a dream of all startups. They spend lots of budget on marketing and advertisement without even getting closer to the revenue earned by Pokémon Go in one day.
What is it which has made Pokémon Go successful?
1. Focus on user experience
The games uses graphics, science, technology, engages user and delivers a complete user experience. It focuses completely on one thing i.e “The User”. It can not be ignored that the game owners must have spent a lot of time to come-up with this idea where their game focuses on engaging users for a long period of time.
2. A Story
Think for a moment, the game is based on a story. It has a plot (like a box office movie hit with an end in sight). The startups who do not have a story to tell usually do not go that far.
3. It is all about timing
Success of any startup depends on its immaculate timing, hit when it matters the most. Pokémon maintained a focal point of engaging its users. Every startup must factor in the timing attribute, they say hit the iron when it is hot. Pokémon cartoon belonged to an era where its competitors like Pacman etc were at their peak but down the road (decades later) they did not re-invent themselves. A food of thought for all startups.
4. Uniqueness
If you have a unique idea, the chances of your success is more as compered to if you have opened a startup for sake of starting the business. Pokémon is unique, it is different and it engages you for hours.
5. A product everyone wants
The fundamental mistake majority of the startups make is, creating a product no one wants. All the money spent in promotion of such business is destined to go waste because there is no end user. Pokémon go has an audience, a huge worldwide audience.
