‘Pokemon Go’ still capturing players two years post-release

Hundreds of “Pokemon Go” players adopted the "gotta catch 'em all" attitude and endured stormy conditions Saturday afternoon on-campus and at Kanapaha Veterans Memorial Park.

The smartphone app, which was released July 2016 by Niantic, Inc., has continued to gain followers in Gainesville despite the initial hype’s end. After recent updates, trainers can catch about 380 Pokemon from the first three generations and one from the seventh generation.

Saturday was a “Community Day,” which lasted from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. According to Niantic’s website, these days are monthly events that feature rare Pokemon spawning more often. Saturday’s rare Pokemon was Larvitar.

UF students, friends and trainers Rett Timberlake, 21; Nick Zeak, 23; and AJ Ariondo, 22, have played the video games since childhood. They downloaded the app the day it came out.

Timberlake said that while there are some “closeted nerds” who try to avoid drawing suspicion of playing Pokemon by turning down their phone’s brightness or hunching over their phone in public, he isn’t one of them.

“I’m sure I probably get looks now and then, but at this point I really don’t care,” Timberlake said. “I enjoy the game more — playing it — than I ever will care what somebody else’s opinion about me playing it is.”

Ariondo, a history major, said in a follow-up interview that drastic changes to gameplay had retained and recouped players. One such feature is the gyms that trainers can capture and defend, making gameplay more competitive.

“If no one (maintains their Pokemon in the gym),” Ariondo said, “it’s going to slowly get weaker, and it’s going to make the gym a little easier to knock out.”

Timberlake, a nursing major, said in a follow-up interview that a huge change had just been announced: player-to-player trading. This would allow players within close proximity to add one another using a friend code and swap Pokemon.

To the friends, Saturday was an opportunity to participate in the local player community, which Ariondo said contains about 1,700 members on its Facebook page.

Zeak, an electrical engineering major, said “Community Day” helps keep players invested in the app, and it is what solidifies the local community.

“While this isn’t the mainstream game, there is still such a heavy following,” Zeak said. “The same people are here every single ‘Community Day,’ out enjoying themselves.”