Pokémon Go has already earned one official record — most downloads on the App Store in a launch week ever. But it’s going to break a lot more records still: app analytics firm Sensor Tower estimates that it hit 50 million downloads on Google Play alone over the weekend, another record, and overall the company says that PoGo has racked up more than 75 million installs across iOS and Android based on their data.
The time it took Pokémon Go to reach 50 million Android downloads is a record across games tracked by Sensor Tower, which put the news into context by comparing it to other Android top performers. The next-fastest was Color Switch, a puzzle game, and Slither.io comes in third, but those took 77 and 81 days, respectively, to pass the 50 million mark, which is a far cry from the short 19 days that Pokémon Go took to reach the same milestone.
Sensor Tower also thinks there are lots of sparks left in PoGo’s metaphorical Pikachu: The game is only available in 32 markets thus far, out of a total possible 100 where Google Play and the App Store distribute their content. The firm predicts that a possible 100 million download achievement within the first two months of Go’s availability is within reach.
For comparison, consider that Tinder reached 100 million downloads only in January this year, after an original debut back in 2012. To be fair, games tend to achieve these kinds of stats more quickly, but it’s getting harder and harder to clearly distinguish between Pokémon Go as a game, and Pokémon Go as a social experience.
Interesting, Niantic’s other location-based game, Ingress, has also experienced a surge in Japan in time with PoGo’s release: Sensor Tower notes that Ingress is now in Japan’s top 10 on the App Store for the first time. Maybe that’s because it’s a more reliable way of finding Pokémon locations in-game than the in-game Pokémon finder itself.
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