Pokémon GO: Success Factors and Health Effects
Master thesis
Permanent lenke
http://hdl.handle.net/11250/2441802Utgivelsesdato
2017Metadata
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Sammendrag
Niantic launched Pokémon GO during the summer of 2016, and the game spread like wildfire, and streets and parks were filled by players of all ages. While there had been similar games before, none of them had ever been this popular, and inactive lifestyles were put aside in the pursuit of \emph{catching 'em all}. This paper aimed to identify the reasons for the game's enormous success, and what effects its widespread use had on the physical and mental health of its players. A survey was created and distributed to collect data on the three focus areas: success factors, physical health effect and mental health effect. The survey asked about causes for initial interest, previous experience with similar games, the most important features and reasons to quit the game. It asked about hours of weekly physical activity, change in unhealthy habits, weight loss and risks players exposed themselves and others to, as well as the effect on new and existing relationships and any mental conditions the players suffered from. The survey found that the success was highly associated with the Pokémon franchise and the time of the release, and that effects on both physical and mental health were large for those who needed change the most. Unfortunately the game was lacking in content, and when most of the players stopped playing, their lifestyle changes also reverted.