Is Pokémon Go a Stealth Fitness App?

Executive Summary

• Although Pokémon was originally a video game for kids, the latest incarnation—Pokémon Go—has amassed an adult audience as well.
• Apple has confirmed that the app set a new record for first-week downloads.
• In contrast to traditional video games, which are played while sitting at home, Pokémon Go players (kids and adults) have to go outside and explore their neighborhood in order to find monsters, PokéSpots, Gyms and eggs, which means players are getting real fitness benefits.
• To incubate collected eggs, which hatch into a player’s own monsters, a player must travel 2–6.2 miles (2–10 km), depending on the kind of egg being hatched.
• Many players are reporting on social media the number of steps they have taken while playing the game by posting data from their fitness bands, and apps that encourage social interaction between players have also emerged.