Whether you’ve played it or not, you can’t really escape Pokémon Go this week. For me, it’s the latter; I haven’t played yet, though I’ve checked it out on some friends’ phones. I see people everywhere playing and of course it’s all over the news. Some have even found trouble while finding Pokémon. I can certainly say I know why it’s so popular. Nostalgia may be the first indicator, especially for people of a certain late-twenties age group (like myself) who were Pokémon-obsessed in the early 2000s (I was not among the obsessed group).

And what about those outside of that age group playing? I’d venture to say it’s because the game truly is, one of a kind. It’s unique in its  purpose, experience, and setting. And it makes you leave the house. Unintentional exercise or not, people are out there on the move and meeting other players. That’s definitely something rare to see in a gaming app. (Maybe besides Tinder).

And what about those outside of that age group playing? I’d venture to say it’s because the game truly is, one of a kind. It’s unique in its  purpose, experience, and setting. And it makes you leave the house. Unintentional exercise or not, people are out there on the move and meeting other players. That’s definitely something rare to see in a gaming app. (Maybe besides Tinder).

Do you think it’s only young people who are all-around obsessed? We wondered who, exactly, was playing and what the age breakdown really looked like. We ran the simple question:

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Have you played Pokémon Go?

  • Yes
  • No, but I will
  • No, not interested
  • I have not heard about this

Asked to US Census figures 13+ from July 12-13, 2,814 people answered.

Many people have already played or plan to plan Pokémon Go

Top line results: 21% of respondents have already played or intend to play it.  But overall, there’s a 96% awareness of the game. That’s huge. Sure, some are not interested, and others, as crazy it may be this week, have not heard about it.

Let’s look at the people who have played / intend to play–we grouped those two answer choices together.

Gender

It’s kind of surprising that there is no huge difference in gender.

played-pokmon-gender-intend

Although players skew younger, all age groups have been participating in the craze.

Pokemon Go - age

  • The 13 – 25 age group, to no surprise, has the lead here, making up over half (54%) of those already playing / intending to play
  • 2nd place goes to the 25-34 set, making up 25% of those who have already played / will play. Again, my guess is nostalgia is at play.
  • And 3rd place goes to the 35-54 group which makes up 19% of current and interested Pokémon-catchers. To me, this is a clear indicator that this is a cultural phenomenon that does not discriminate by age at all.

Other nuggets about this group:

  • Those who responded that they have played / intend to play are more likely to eat fast food at least once per week
  • They are also more than twice as likely to go to the movies at least once a month
  • People who are playing or will play are less likely to be married
  • People who are playing / have the intent to play are 45% more likely to tell others about new brands or tech.
  • Those who have not yet played but plan to, play video games daily. So these people are maybe already busy with other games.
  • Those who have played / will play are more likely to live in the suburbs, which I found interesting
  • A third of these people are parents while 8% are grandparents

A quick bit about who is not interested at all:

  • These people are less likely to prefer horror movies, follow the NHL, and are also less likely to go to the movies.
  • They are less likely to use a smartphone. Bingo.
  • People who answer No, not interested are more likely to own their homes and to be married.

I also decided to ask which Pokémon people chose to start in the game.

Top line results are here with Charmander in the lead, but check back next week to see a fuller-fledged post on the topic.

Pokemon Go - character topline

With the great success of this game, I think other gaming developers should think outside of the box, or maybe even outside of the home (as we see here) when it comes to getting users of all ages engaged. And as for Nintendo, to keep this craze relevant, new features, updates, new critters even, will help that cause.

So, go ahead and download it if you haven’t already to see what this game is all about for yourself. It’s probably time I do the same.


Interested in more consumer tech insights? Check out our recent posts on our blog!

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