'Pokémon Go' News: Catch Party Hat Pikachus Until March 6 Only
"Pokémon Go" users still have several days left to catch a special Pikachu as part of the worldwide celebration of the franchise's 21st anniversary.
The special treat is available to all players until March 6 at 4 p.m. EST. The event started last Feb. 26.
In a post on Niantic's blog, they announced that they have teamed up with The Pokémon Company International to celebrate Pokémon Day. In the event, players can expect a lot of Pikachus to appear wearing party hats. Once caught, the Pokémon will get to keep the hat forever. The special Pikachus are only available in the wild until the event ends, so it is best to keep an eye out for them.
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"Pokémon Day" is the latest event hosted by Niantic after the release of more than 80 new Pokémon in its app this February. The San Francisco-based software development company has been busy forging partnerships with other retailers to boost the game's popularity. Companies like Starbucks and Sprint have taken advantage of the foot traffic the mobile game has created to increase their own sales. The in-game PokéStops in their shops are strategically placed to motivate the players to revisit the game.
Niantic CEO John Hanke is proud of their achievements since "Pokémon Go" was released July last year. According to him, the app enjoyed activity spikes at the end of 2016, which means more and more players are joining the "Pokémon Go" community. He also said that a lot of users are coming from Asia and the United States. When asked about the explosive growth of their revenue in 2016, the CEO told Adweek that they are more than happy, considering how they worked hard to make the app a reality.
"Pokémon Go was kind of our premeditative effort to take [mobile AR] to a more mainstream audience. We knew that there were elements in the game that were addictive and that would really click with people in terms of getting out and playing with other people in real life. It was super amazing to see that happen in this unexpectedly frenetic way around the world," Hanke said in the Adweek interview.
