Pokémon GO to Pokémon STAY: How Covid-19 Affected Pokémon GO Players
This research addresses the underexplored effects of COVID-19 on location-based game players, providing insights into social and psychological adaptations during the pandemic.
The study investigated how COVID-19 impacted Pokémon GO players, finding through interviews that the pandemic highlighted the importance of in-person socialization, increased use of the game as a coping mechanism, and changed player perceptions of people-place relationships.
Since its creation, the Location-Based Game (LBG), Pokémon GO, has been embraced by a community of fans across the world. Due to its recency, the impact of COVID-19 on the community of Pokémon GO players is underexplored. We address how COVID-19 has impacted the players of Pokémon GO by building upon existing work focusing on player gratifications and impacts in Pokémon GO. Through semi-structured interviews, we provide a snapshot of the state of LBG play during unprecedented times. These player testimonies demonstrate (1) the importance of in-person socialization to LBG, (2) additional ways players use the game as a coping mechanism, and (3) how intentionality mediates player perceptions of people-place relationships. In demonstrating these behaviors, we provide a glimpse of how a game that forces players to explore the world around them changed when going outside with friends became a source of danger.