Corporate IT: Lessons from Pokémon Go

If you live in Europe, North America, Japan, or Australia, then this past month you will have probably seen a lot more people in parks and public spaces staring fixedly at their phones. And, in case you’d missed it, they’re not lost holidaymakers but are in fact playing Pokémon Go, an augmented reality game that has now launched across most of the rich world.

The free game sends players on digital scavenger hunts to capture, train, and battle cartoon monsters. It uses Android and Apple devices’ cameras and GPS systems to digitally impose animated images into your view of the world through augmented reality.

Pokémon Go was first introduced in the US on July 6 and, in less than a week after release, had become the most downloaded application in Apple’s App Store. It went on to generate unprecedented interest in almost every county in which it launched, and led to Nintendo’s market cap more than doubling at one point before investors realized that the interest wasn’t going to translate immediately into similarly large revenue.

Three Lessons for IT Teams

Nonetheless, within a month, the game has stirred up an entire sector, and has spawned a cottage industry of experts providing tips, and even producing bots that will play the game for you. This series of successful launches of such a popular product offers a few lessons to IT leaders as they consider their own role in digital product development.

1. Matching technology to customer behavior: Despite initial reluctance to move away from dedicated devices, Nintendo recognized the growing popularity of mobile gaming and partnered with Niantic Labs to create Pokémon Go. It provided users with a social experience that played on a major commercial brand to introduce augmented reality to the mass market, a technology that has previously only been available in niche sectors.

   By targeting and understanding a specific consumer segment, the game offers a digital interface that fits seamlessly into the daily routines of that oh-so-desirable “millennial” audience, including the constant use of camera, GPS, and other smartphone features required to operate the application.

2. Promoting adoption in digital channels: Pokémon Go rose to the top of the download charts by capitalizing on social marketing. As more people began to play, awareness and interest in the game grew through social media and peer reviews, removing the need for expensive advertising.

   Many businesses are already considering how to generate revenue from the game and join the augmented reality that users experience. This includes paying to be a sponsored location where more Pokémon exist or offering special bargains to players that drive heavier foot traffic.

3. Capacity issues and cloud controversy: Game-developer Niantic didn’t foresee just how much demand Pokémon Go would generate. On multiple instances its servers have gone down causing major disruptions. Although these issues have been temporarily solved, Niantic will have to decide how to permanently increase its infrastructure capacity if it wants to sustain players over time.

   One alternative to on premise servers is to rely on the public cloud to better deal with heavy spikes in demand. Amazon CTO Werner Vogels even tweeted to Niantic Labs, implying that Amazon Web Services’ public IaaS cloud could help avoid all the crashes. Although a global roll-out of the application has been paused and developers are working to fix the issue, there is no word on whether they’ll take up Vogels’ offer.

4. Planning around security, privacy, and social responsibility: Other oversights include the game’s request for full access to the user’s Google account during the IOS download process, causing concerns that sensitive client data could be compromised. Niantic has acknowledged this error and released a statement clarifying its intention to access only basic Google profile information – not to read emails or track players’ movements.

   There are additional privacy concerns about unwanted crowds being drawn to locations where players go to “battle,” including churches and individual homes. Some users have also been injured while playing Pokémon Go and not paying attention to their surroundings.