Do you think Pokémon GO has helped or hindered the franchise?

[Welkamo]

I mean, it got me into the franchise, which could be seen as a positive or negative thing depending on who you ask.

 

[Neyo]

Pokémon Go is a net-negative because it brought lootbox shit into the franchise. Sure, things were already moving in that direction with Shuffle but GO showed how much money they could really make with minimal effort and predatory monetization. It brought a lot of people into the franchise, sure, but it basically guaranteed that Pokémon will eventually be known more for economically exploiting kids and neurodiverse people rather than for having good games.

Wow, I have a 2 ssues with a few of these thoughts.
A) “Lootbox shit”. Outside of Go, Unite, and Shuffle (of which, only one has a big name recognition factor), where exactly is there loot boxes/harmful capitalist desires within the franchise? I would argue that the DLC, which anybody responding to this response will likely mention, is not really a huge issue. It would definitely be best if they avoided it from now on, but the DLC itself was more of a response to lashback and Dexit.

B) “Economic exploitation”. I don’t think that when one bring Pokémon up, the first thing that comes to mind is stealing money. The idea that kids will be actively spending lots of money on this game is something I find difficult to believe, as kids won’t necessarily be spending money on a mobile game, and most kids the age to have a phone won’t be easily baited into paying money for something with marginal rewards.

Just my two cents. I have no intention of hostility.

 

[Isaac the Investigator]

Wow, I have a 2 ssues with a few of these thoughts.
A) “Lootbox shit”. Outside of Go, Unite, and Shuffle (of which, only one has a big name recognition factor), where exactly is there loot boxes/harmful capitalist desires within the franchise? I would argue that the DLC, which anybody responding to this response will likely mention, is not really a huge issue. It would definitely be best if they avoided it from now on, but the DLC itself was more of a response to lashback and Dexit.

B) “Economic exploitation”. I don’t think that when one bring Pokémon up, the first thing that comes to mind is stealing money. The idea that kids will be actively spending lots of money on this game is something I find difficult to believe, as kids won’t necessarily be spending money on a mobile game, and most kids the age to have a phone won’t be easily baited into paying money for something with marginal rewards.

Just my two cents. I have no intention of hostility.

There are also shitty gacha games like Masters, and even the three you mentioned have millions of players. And that's not the only shitty thing Pokémon has been doing, including putting things like the GTS that have been free for years behind a paywall. And it has been scientifically proven that lootboxes are linked to problem gambling and are particularly exploitative to neurodivergent people, any attempt to claim otherwise is denialism. And there's no reason it will end there: Pokémon is just testing the waters to see what they can get away with, and there has been way too little pushback for the lootboxes that they have introduced in the games. Lootboxes are shitty and harmful and they should never be present in any games ever.