Pokemon Go with Serkan Toto

Serkan Toto joined us for a conversation to discuss the global phenomenon of Pokemon Go. We discussed the backstory of the creator behind this new sensational game, Niantic Labs and the backers behind the game maker from Google to Nintendo. We discussed why the game has been so successful, the game mechanics and why it has not opened in Asia (but it has opened in Japan two days later after our recording). We examined the impact of Pokemon Go to Nintendo and how the Japanese gaming giant will move forward with their mobile gaming strategy and their game portfolio content.

Here are the interesting show notes and links to the discussion (with time-stamps included):

• Serkan Toto (@serkantoto, LinkedIn, Website), CEO of Kantan Games JP 
  • What have he been up to? [1:26]
• The Pokemon Go Phenomenon and its impact to Nintendo [1:50]
  • As a start, can you briefly describe who is the maker behind Pokemon Go which is Niantic Labs, a startup founded within Google? [2:02]
  • Niantic Labs started with a game called Ingress which is an augmented reality and geo-location game (and I can talk about that), how does this game translate the learnings into Pokemon Go? [3:55]
  • Who are the owners of Pokemon Go? Google, Niantic Labs, Nintendo and Pokemon [6:02]
  • We talked about Pokemon Go in our last podcast, where it was still in the trials. Upon its launch, why has it been so successful? [6:54]
  • How does the game Pokemon Go work? [9:41]
  • Why has Pokemon Go not opened in Asia particularly Japan? [12:50]  – By the time of this published post, the game is now opened in Japan. 
  • What would be the penetration of Pokemon Go that you will estimate for Japan? [13:55]
  • Let’s talk business models, how does Pokemon Go change the landscape of: [16:20]
    • Hyper local business models – they achieved what Foursquare cannot with the sponsored locations model. [16:31]
    • Bringing AR mainstream – is Pokemon Go the decider on whether VR or AR will go mainstream? What does it mean for other game makers out there? [19:10]
    • What are the other business models that Pokemon Go can introduce in the gaming world? [21:40]
  • Nintendo has doubled their market cap to US$42B since the launch of Pokemon Go, does that give them the impetus to push their mobile gaming efforts quicker and also start monetising on their gaming content IP (Super Mario)? [23:55]
  • You have been bullish on Nintendo, are you even more bullish now with the success of Pokemon Go and what’s the summer coming up for Nintendo in the mobile gaming world? [25:42]
  • Does that mean that Nintendo is incentivised to offer their gaming content IP to other 3rd party developers? [27:00]

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The show is hosted by Bernard Leong (@bleongcw) and are sponsored by Ideal Workspace (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) with their new Altizen Desk on Indiegogo (Twitter, Facebook, Medium). Also check out Ideal Workspace’s new standing desk, Altizen and sign up for their mailing list. Sound credits for the intro music: Taro Iwashiro, “The Beginning” from Red Cliff Soundtrack.