AR gaming has changed greatly since the release of Pokémon GO. At the height of its popularity, Pokémon GO had more users compared to Twitter, and people were spending more time playing the game than browsing Facebook. It was even more popular than Candy Crush in the US, having nearly 21 million daily active users.
The Growing Popularity of AR Gaming
Since Pokémon GO, many other AR games have been released, owing to the increasing demand for AR gaming. In a message shared with ARPost, Chief CX Innovation Officer and MD of Gaming at Arise and Arise Gaming, Jonathan Shroyer, remarked that the popularity of Pokémon GO was a “cultural phenomenon in many ways.”
According to Shroyer, people who didn’t like playing video games were now spending hours playing Pokémon GO. Moreover, they were becoming more active, walking an average of close to 1,500 extra steps daily and engaging with their respective communities more often.
“We also saw a boost in local economies and overall cultural awareness as people got outside and did things they normally wouldn’t do in their day-to-day lives,” he added.
Augmented reality gaming continues to grow in popularity and it’s projected to reach a value of up to $274.4 billion by 2027. One contributor to its AR gaming’s popularity is that players don’t need to don or purchase special equipment, unlike with VR. Other potential factors contributing to the industry’s growth include the rising popularity of mobile games, advancements in game development, and the integration of AR games with other industries.
How AR Gaming Is Changing the Face of the Gaming Industry
AR gaming offers a more interactive and immersive way for gamers to engage with games. This technology, coupled with VR, has allowed players to go beyond the screen and into an immersive world where they’re able to engage with both the game and the characters within it.
Moreover, it’s become a social phenomenon, allowing players to interact with others in virtual worlds. In turn, this allows them to connect with others who share the same interests. Plus, given that players can access AR games via mobile, this gives them more opportunities to explore new physical and virtual environments.
But what makes augmented reality gaming so intriguing?
“AR gaming really is a fantastic way to combine the excitement of video games with reality, effectively changing the way we game and think about video games in general,” said Shroyer. He added that augmented reality gaming has allowed “people to experience a world within our reality” and that with AR gaming, gamers can literally go outside and take part in a hybrid world.
This is what makes AR gaming very appealing to people in general, not just to gamers, and is a crucial driving force in the transformation of the industry.
