When Pokémon GO was published in 2016, it quickly rose to the top of the most downloaded and most profitable mobile applications. The unprecedented success of Pokémon GO offered a chance to study game experiences of a mainstream location-based game with an exceptionally wide and diverse player base.
While other location-based games with famous franchises such as Jurassic World Alive, Minecraft Earth and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite have been published after Pokémon GO, they have had less visible popularity and economic success, and some of them have already been closed down.
In her dissertation, Master of Arts Elina Koskinen examines memorable player experiences with location-based games through the case of Pokémon GO. The dissertation is based on Finnish qualitative survey data consisting of 2 400 participants. The survey focused on the Pokémon GO players’ experiences in 2016 when the game’s popularity was at its peak and the experiences were fresh in players’ minds.
“The social atmosphere and communality created by Pokémon GO in the game’s early days was a unique phenomenon, the virality of which is hard to repeat”, says Koskinen.
Pokémon GO lowered the threshold for talking to strangers
According to the study, Pokémon GO offered new ways to spend time and bond with family members and friends and lowered the threshold to chat with strangers. Middle-aged players, an age group that had traditionally played less, were eager to play Pokémon GO, even in cases where it was a player’s first time trying a video game.
“If Pokémon GO as a play experience would be summarized in one word, it would be ‘transformative’”, Koskinen states.
The social atmosphere transformed, as a normally introverted nation suddenly conversed with strangers casually. People’s behavior transformed also in other aspects: they acted in ways they would not have acted without the game. Sometimes they felt embarrassed by their behavior, because it might have been different from how people normally behave in public spaces.
The game also transformed places: some previously empty spaces were suddenly full of people, or in popular spots people were catching Pokémon instead of performing other activities that used to take place. Pokémon GO also transformed familiar surroundings into something new, since they could be explored through the game from a new point of view.
Player experiences in video games have diversified
Koskinen argues that the memorable player experiences of location-based games are divided into four main dimensions related to gameplay, physical context of play, sociability and the investment players had in the game. This investment manifested for example through the hours spend and kilometers walked just to catch Pokémon creatures.
“We should reconsider our understanding of player experience in the context of video games, which has traditionally been seen as something that takes place between the player and the game screen. Play experience also includes a wider context, meaning our physical surroundings, the people in it, and the interaction we have with them and our environment during play”, Koskinen states.
Public defence on Friday 31 January
The doctoral dissertation of M.A. Elina Koskinen in the field of game studies titled Memorable Player Experiences with Pokémon GO will be publicly examined in Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences at Tampere University at 12:00 on Friday 31.1.2025 in auditorium B1096, building Pinni B of Tampere University (Kanslerinrinne 1). The Opponent will be Professor Adriana de Souza e Silva from the Northeastern University (Boston, United States). The Custos will be University Lecturer Kati Alha from the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences at Tampere University.
The dissertation is available online.
The public defence can be followed via remote connection.