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Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

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Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#11

Post by krapp »

genericone wrote: post #3
ruytlm wrote: post #2

>There is also hope that Niantic’s pending game with a Harry Potter theme will also be popular when it comes out some time next year. It will be interesting to see how successful this is, given that unlike Pokemon, Harry Potter isn't really a franchise defined by the location-based hunt-and-collect mechanic that drives Pokemon Go and Ingress.

Guided swish and flick magic at Universal Studios is a pretty popular mechanic. Maybe Niantic can sell wands like they sell smart pokeball keychains and watches currently. And with better AR, the magic effects could overlay onto real world landmarks, ie make the Eiffel tower disappear with a swish in AR mode.

Getting into magical duels with other players might be fun.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#12

Post by sandworm101 »

b_tterc_p wrote: post #9

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

Potter is dead. It was a franchise pegged to a particular generation. The original author consciously upped the aged of the books to match the age of the fans. The movies did the same. Potter fans have now grown up. They don't relate to the material as they did as kids. They find the early material childish, silly. Marketing potter to them again is very difficult.

Similar franchises (star wars/trek etc) did not attempt to 'grow up' alongside fans. So, decades later, they can still be relevant to new people. Star Wars VIII isn't attempting to be any more mature than Star Wars IV. But compare potter's first and latest movies. They are aiming at totally different age groups.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#13

Post by Benjamin_Dobell »

b_tterc_p wrote: post #9

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

Japan... not like Harry Potter? I'm guessing you've not been to Universal Studios in Japan!

Of course, that's anecdotal evidence. Here's an article about Fantastic Beasts ticket sales: https://deadline.com/2016/11/fantastic-beasts-moana-doctor-s...

For Fantastic Beasts 2: https://deadline.com/2018/11/venom-crosses-800-million-ralph...

The latter article states:

> it held the No. 1 position in 37 markets this session. Japan, a typically important hub for the Wizarding World, opened to $13M (including $1M on 31 IMAX screens) for WB’s biggest start of 2018 and similar to FB1.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#14

Post by nwhatt »

sandworm101 wrote: post #12
b_tterc_p wrote: post #9

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

Potter is dead. It was a franchise pegged to a particular generation. The original author consciously upped the aged of the books to match the age of the fans. The movies did the same. Potter fans have now grown up. They don't relate to the material as they did as kids. They find the early material childish, silly. Marketing potter to them again is very difficult. Similar franchises (star wars/trek etc) did not attem…

They are still making movies in the potter universe. The current one has grossed 150 million in a month. I bet universal studios and Harry Potter legos aren’t doing too bad either.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#15

Post by tehlike »

sandworm101 wrote: post #12
b_tterc_p wrote: post #9

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

Potter is dead. It was a franchise pegged to a particular generation. The original author consciously upped the aged of the books to match the age of the fans. The movies did the same. Potter fans have now grown up. They don't relate to the material as they did as kids. They find the early material childish, silly. Marketing potter to them again is very difficult. Similar franchises (star wars/trek etc) did not attem…

I believe you could say the same thing for pokemon.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#16

Post by nikanj »

sandworm101 wrote: post #12
b_tterc_p wrote: post #9

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

Potter is dead. It was a franchise pegged to a particular generation. The original author consciously upped the aged of the books to match the age of the fans. The movies did the same. Potter fans have now grown up. They don't relate to the material as they did as kids. They find the early material childish, silly. Marketing potter to them again is very difficult. Similar franchises (star wars/trek etc) did not attem…

I fail to see how the first Harry Potter is less relevant to the ten-year olds today, than it was to the ten-year olds 20 years ago.

Somehow you're simultaneously complaining that the Potter series offers something for the older fans, and that the Potter series is too childish?

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#17

Post by nikanj »

ruytlm wrote: post #2

>There is also hope that Niantic’s pending game with a Harry Potter theme will also be popular when it comes out some time next year. It will be interesting to see how successful this is, given that unlike Pokemon, Harry Potter isn't really a franchise defined by the location-based hunt-and-collect mechanic that drives Pokemon Go and Ingress.

The two newest movies have had a very big "cool monsters"-streak to them. Not sure if they thought about making this game, when they were writing the scripts originally.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#18

Post by foota »

sandworm101 wrote: post #12
b_tterc_p wrote: post #9

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

Potter is dead. It was a franchise pegged to a particular generation. The original author consciously upped the aged of the books to match the age of the fans. The movies did the same. Potter fans have now grown up. They don't relate to the material as they did as kids. They find the early material childish, silly. Marketing potter to them again is very difficult. Similar franchises (star wars/trek etc) did not attem…

Anecdotal, but I'm a mid 20s person living in the US and the harry potter fandom is still very strong.

Re: Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

#19

Post by benatkin »

sandworm101 wrote: post #12
b_tterc_p wrote: post #9

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

Potter is dead. It was a franchise pegged to a particular generation. The original author consciously upped the aged of the books to match the age of the fans. The movies did the same. Potter fans have now grown up. They don't relate to the material as they did as kids. They find the early material childish, silly. Marketing potter to them again is very difficult. Similar franchises (star wars/trek etc) did not attem…

I don't think Star Trek isn't a similar franchise. It's not centered around a single storyline like Star Wars or Harry Potter.

Star Wars is a similar franchise, but I think it shows the opposite, because the fandom was strong during the 16 year gap between movies from 1983 to 1999, which shows that once successful, a fandom like that will stay intact for years, whether or not anything new gets added to it. Harry Potter fans can ignore the new stuff that's coming out. A lot of Star Wars fans disliked or didn't pay much attention to the new movies but remained part of the fandom.

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