Seemingly out of nowhere, people across the United States and other countries around the world could be found walking around with their faces in their smartphone screens. That’s the norm nowadays, except these smartphone users weren’t on social media. They were “capturing” imaginary creatures overlaid on the real world with the augmented reality game Pokémon Go.
Here’s a timeline of the phenomenon:
JULY 6, 2016
Pokémon Go is released by Nintendo. Let the madness begin.
JULY 8, 2016
After two days, Nintendo’s market value soars to $7.5 billion. In the United States, the game is already installed on more than 5 percent of Android devices, according to web analytics firm SimilarWeb.
JULY 11, 2016
Craziness ensues. A man catches Pokémon while his wife gives birth, a user of the app discovers a dead body, robbers exploit players through the game, players get hurt (and sore) and dogs get walked more because of the game.
JULY 13, 2016
- Business owners figure out that they can “lure” Pokémon to their locations, in turn luring customers. Companies use tactics such as social media, whiteboards, luring and even charging stations to bring in new Pokécustomers.
- The augmented reality game has “Pokéstops” that allow you to lure more Pokémon to your area. Some of those stops happen to be in a police station, museums and even churches. Just seven days after Pokémon Go is released to the public, cemeteries, police stations and museums have to figure out how to handle the influx of people — or in some cases, (like that of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.,) keep them out.
JULY 14, 2016
- A possible leak shows that McDonald’s and Nintendo could have a deal in the works that would give McDonald’s locations sponsored status.
- More craziness ensues. Players are catching Pokémon while driving and at funerals, and in one instance, the app helps a woman discover her boyfriend had been cheating on her.
JULY 15, 2016
T-Mobile announces that it would be giving users of the app unlimited data until August of next year along with a free Wendy’s frosty, a free Lyft ride up to $15 and a 50 percent discount on some accessories.
JULY 18, 2016
OurMine, the group best known for hacking Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey’s social media accounts, claimed that they took the game offline. The three-person team also offered their services to Niantic to help them better protect their servers.
JULY 19, 2016
Pokémon Go takes over India, where you can be hired to be a professional Pokémon catcher. Babajob offers the position as an official job title.
JULY 20, 2016
- Is the fad wearing off? Nintendo shares more than doubled after Pokémon Go was released but on this day shares slip.
- A driver playing Pokémon Go hits a police car in Baltimore. The police captured the accident on camera and posted it to social media.
JULY 22, 2016
Pokémon Go is released in Japan with its first official sponsor, McDonald’s. The sponsorship would make McDonald’s locations Pokémon gyms. Within four hours of launch, Pokémon Go was the most downloaded app in Japan.
JULY 25, 2016
Nintendo shares plummet after the company releases a statement saying it owns only 32 percent of the Pokémon company and that Pokémon Go is actually a collaboration between The Pokémon Company and Niantic Labs.
JULY 26, 2016
Pokémon Go players have flooded parks, monuments and churches to catch Pokémon — but the Cologne Cathedral doesn’t want to play. The Catholic cathedral has hired a lawyer to take action against Niantic after the game manufacturer allegedly ignored requests for the church to be excluded from the game.
JULY 27, 2016
- Pokémon Go loses its ranking as the number-one free iPhone app. Bitmoji claims the spot.
- Nintendo Co. Ltd. announces a first quarter loss. Pokémon Go was not included in the first quarter report. The company also announced the release of its Pokémon Go accessory would be delayed.
JULY 28, 2016
- The Mayor of Dusseldorf closed off an entire bridge to protect Pokémon players (from as far as Holland) who are flooding to the Pokéstops at each end of the bridge. The city has even brought in portable toilets and extra trash cans to accommodate players.
- Pokémon Go players are flooding a park to commemorate the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima to catch monsters at Pokéstops, and city officials are hoping to put an end to it.The city reached out to Niantic Inc., Pokémon Go’s developer, to be excluded from the game by Aug. 6, when the ceremony to remember the victims of the 1945 bombing is scheduled to take place.
AUG. 1, 2016
- Three teenagers were robbed at gunpoint in a London Park while playing Pokémon Go, according to British police.
- The two robbers, one of which was armed with a handgun and expected to be around 16 to 17 years of age, demanded the players’ hand over the phones. No one was harmed, including the Pokémon.
- The Zika Virus, water pollution, heightened fears of terrorism, lack of plumbing and electricity at the athletes’ village. These are totally non-issues compared to a lack of Pokémon Go.
- The game has not been released in Brazil, which has some Olympic athletes complaining.
- Talk about first-world problems.
- The Israeli army has banned soldiers from playing Pokémon Go on military bases due to security concerns.
- The army’s concern is the possibility of soldiers downloading fake apps, causing information from the player’s phones to be leaked.
- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is working to keep children safe while they play Pokémon Go. The governor asked state authorities to prevent nearly 3,000 registered sex offenders who are on parole from playing the augmented reality game.
- He also sent a letter to Niantic, the game’s developer, asking them to do the same.
AUG. 2, 2016
- Pokémon Go has now been installed more than 100 million times, according to App Annie.
- People are spending money to play too. The game brings in more than $10 million daily just three weeks after its release.
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