Many players have taken to the streets to play Niantic's latest smartphone gaming app "Pokemon Go." Several days after its release, the game has become the U.S.'s biggest mobile game and has even surpassed "Candy Crush's" previous record of daily active users.
Latest data from Survey Monkey has shown the number of "Pokemon Go" daily users since it was first released in the United States on July 6. The report indicated that as of Tuesday, July 12, just under 21 million U.S. smartphone users have been actively playing the game on a daily basis.
Previous reports have also indicated how the game has already surpassed "Clash Royale" and "Slither.io" in the number of daily users. It appears that Niantic's "Pokemon Go" has also recently beat out puzzle mobile game "Candy Crush." The said gaming title previously held the record of having the most number of active daily users in the U.S. at 20 million, as indicated in the same report.
The game has gained a huge number of avid players and has been breaking records since it was launched in the United States. It has become one of the popular gaming apps in Apple's App Store. The mobile "Pokemon" gaming title has even overtaken Twitter in the number of users. It is also on track to surpass Snapchat as well as Google maps.
Despite the game's popularity, some critics have questioned whether Niantic and The Pokemon Company will be able to sustain the game's momentum. SuperData Research CEO Joost van Dreunen made mention of weather conditions and various seasons that may affect the player's interest to go out and capture Pokemon characters, CNBC reported.
He commented that a rainy day or a winter season may impact a gamer's decision to continue playing the game. The SuperData executive stated that the game's publisher and its developer may soon need to "face the retention figures after 7, 30 and 90 days."
Meanwhile, video gaming independent analyst Billy Pidgeon shared that Niantic and The Pokemon Company may need to come up with other game features and events to keep player engagement high. Although at this time, it is still unclear if the game's popularity will continue to soar. "Pokemon Go" has recently been released in Germany and in the U.K. on Wednesday, July 13. The game was initially released was in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand in early July.
Watch a trailer for the game below: