Reference no: EM132165812

Please read and answer the questions.

What factors affect the geographic choice (and ordering) of the Pokemon Go's international expansion? How could Niantic or one of its parent or partner companies facilitate its launch in China, India or South Korea?

International Expansion

Pokémon Go had won a Guinness Record for topping download charts in 70 countries in both count and revenues. However, the game had not been equally welcomed in all countries. In Japan for example, a country with a large gamer base, Japanese authorities are trying to capitalize on the popularity of the game to promote tourism especially in parts of the country that suffered from deadly earthquakes recently. The company struck some formal partnerships like the ones the company had made with Ingress. McDonald Japan was the first to partner with Niantic for the launch of the game in Japan, turning 400 stores into gyms and another 2,500 into PokéStops where players can get free items for visiting, including balls, potions, eggs, and razz berries. On the other hand, it is considered a security threat in Egypt as many fans were found playing in security sensitive areas.

The formidable international expansion was also facing roadblocks in the most populous Asian countries while potential users were clamoring for it and getting impatient. Pokémon Go was still not available in a number of countries including the key Asian countries of China and South Korea -likely due to security restrictions- and India. Gamers around the globe were expecting a continued roll on of the game to new countries. Impatient players from China and South Korea have been flocking to Sokcho in South Korea, the only place where the game is playable thanks to a security loophole. Its mayor, often seen dressed as Professor Oak, delights in the bus services bringing gamers from Seoul and has organized extra Wi-Fi Zones and mobile charging stations for tourists. Local businesses also offer discounts to players such as to those who have captured the most Pokémon. Clearly the potential in Asia is likely great if the Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Singapore examples have anything to say. Transportation officials have reported tripling ridership in some parts of Taipei due to Pokémon hunting, with a near stampede recorded in Taipei following a Snorlax- a rare Pokémon alert. Businesses in areas surrounding Pokéstops reported selling out of food in abnormally extended hours in Singapore.

Pokémon Go Challenges and Opportunities

Intellectual property protection (IP) had become a big issue as some businesses were profiting illegally from the game. Apps had been written to help Pokémon hunters locate and catch their favorite Pokémon. These often relied on scraping, a technique that required playing the game continuously to copy and download its data and recreate its algorithm. The data was then used in other apps or sold to other app developers. Besides the intellectual property theft, scraping was putting extreme pressure on the servers and slowing down the game for everyone. A slew of imitators were emerging as well. Knock-offs, such as Monster Ball in China have emerged and more are likely to. 

Current users were hoping for a swift resolution of server issues reflected in the inability to access the game and glitches. Pokémon fans had been promised that the next game release will give the possibility to trade Pokémon, grow the list of Pokémon available and other. These were beloved features of the original Nintendo card game and may be useful in maintaining players' interest. Gamers around the globe were expecting a continued roll on of the game to new countries.

The game was also facing various degrees of resistance from several governments and local authorities worried about privacy and security, and users and non-users worried about trespassing and invasion of privacy among others. Some well publicized cases of cheaters were being shared widely across traditional and social media, as well as accidents taking place while gamers were not paying attention, something that was perhaps inevitable considering the hundreds of millions of people that were playing the game. Pokémon players have also been trespassing on private property and congregating in mass in certain areas, leading to backlash, accidents and even lawsuits against Niantic, and forcing local authorities to deal in various ways with the issue. Users have had to be warned from playing and driving, ignoring their surroundings, and venturing into hazardous areas including some rife with landmines such as in parts of Bosnia.

The game market was also known to be fickle so maintaining the popularity of the game was a continuous concern. Most games also had declining retention rates after their launch and to top this off, this game required walking outdoors so some wondered how much game playing would take place as winter neared and students got busy at school. The nay-sayers were even saying it would be a two-month wonder.

There were many additional potential revenue sources that could be tapped and needed to be explored such as the recent win-win partnership with McDonald Japan. Moreover, while the game creators were focused on doing good and getting gamers out of their living room and into the world socializing and exercising there was a number of unintended consequences. On the plus side, many entrepreneurs were finding ways to make money from the game. It was not all rosy though.

With limited management time and attention, a choice needed to be made on the next steps the company would take in the immediate future: further develop the game itself and work on licensing, organize fan meets and take these and Ingress' fans' meet in-house, develop new AR games, develop hardware to help users play the game or partner with hardware developers in the process, or assist other game developers in adding AR to their games. These were only some of the many options that John Hanke and his team, which needed to grow, could pursue but there were so many possibilities and so little time it seemed.