Pokémon Go is starting to lose its buzz, with the latest tracking data seeming to suggest the game is simply a fad.

It had almost 45 million daily users in July, but this figure appears to have sunk by more than 12 million since the start of August, to just over 30 million said to be playing Pokémon Go. Further decline is expected, as downloads, engagement, and the time users spend on the app have all also visibly flopped, according to data provided by Sensor Tower, SurveyMonkey, and Apptopia.

Bloomberg, which saw the raw data, reported that other major apps such as Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat "can breathe a sigh of relief" that Pokémon Go is finally wobbling, as the game's popularity had apparently been costing them considerable amounts of users.

"Given the rapid rise in usage of the Pokémon Go app since the launch in July, investors have been concerned that this new user experience has been detracting from time spent on other mobile focused apps," said Axiom Capital Management analyst Victor Anthony.

Developer Niantic is persevering with the game, however, and is due to release version 0.35.0 for Android and 1.5.0 for iOS. According to the patch notes, players "will now be able to learn about a Pokémon’s attack and defence capabilities from their Team Leader to determine which of their Pokémon have the most potential for battle."

Niantic also hinted at upcoming developments designed to improve the game's questionable longevity, saying: "We are still working hard on several new and exciting features to come in the future of Pokémon Go."

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/08/pokemon-go-sheds-more-than-10m-users/

Well, it can't keep people engaged forever, specially if they don't improve the grass radar system or make more meaningful competitive things. Some form of competitive aspect between tams would give some more life to the game.

Bound to happen, still surprised it is at 30 million to be frank. It will continue to go down, and spike when major updates happen like Gen 2.

Well it was a cultural phenomenon, "A cultural phenomenon, also known as the bandwagon effect, occurs when certain individuals behave a certain way merely because other individuals do as well." So yeah the people only playing it because it was popular were going to drop off sooner or later.

The real test for Pokemon Go will be if it survives the winter, I can see it completely dropping off before January.

But this particular drop was always going to happen so it's not really anything to worry about.

Shocker.

I still see like hundreds of people playing at the park, I just can't imagine doing that every day, it would get exhausting.

So like every other mobile game then?

It is experiencing the same mobile trend just at a different trajectory. The sad part is, if Niantic wasn't the most hostile game company I have ever experienced as it pertains to their own user base, the game might even be in better shape than it is.

Expected, the game isn't a fad though! Once they start releasing more pokemon people will flock back. In saying that though the game has definitely peaked, we wont see such numbers ever again from Pokemon.

Niantic killed it themselves. Misplaced priorities (taking down Poké Radar before fixing the 3-step glitch, for example), zero public relations, and an inability to accurately punish cheaters has ruined it for me and many others.