Not content with its recent uninspired release of Peridot (afeeble attemptat recapturing the glory days of Pokémon Go), Niantic, in its seemingly limitless capacity for recycling old ideas, has brought us another baffling development decision. Amid a storm of less-than-spectacular releases and a seemingly stagnant innovation culture, Niantic, the creator of the phenomenal Pokémon Go, has introduced its latest brainchild — Campfire.
Instead of adding a much-needed upgrade to the existing Pokémon Go platform for Raids, Niantic has launched Campfire as a separate entity, an app apparently designed to “help trainers connect, discover local communities, and locate active raids nearby.” Given the fanbase’s already considerable engagement with Pokémon Go, the introduction of a separate app for the same audience seems like a redundant step. It’s as if Niantic has decided to add an unnecessary sidecar instead of improving the engine. Furthermore, it’s not like users weren’t already using arguably better third-party raid-coordinating apps (likePoke Genie) for a while already.
The global reaction to Campfire’s releaseseems to mirror the growing disillusionment with Niantic’s products. Even on Reddit, where you’d expect to find some dedicated fans, the consensus is that while the app works, it’sfar from recommendable. Campfire’s shortcomings - a missing raid selection feature and a poorly designed raid queue system - seem to indicate that Niantic is still out of sync with its user base.
Niantic might do well to reflect on its development strategy. While the continual repurposing and refashioning of Pokémon Go’s dynamics might have been a surefire success strategy in the past, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the gaming community is yearning for novelty. Unless Niantic steps up to the plate with something genuinely novel, innovative, and above all, practical, it risks fading into the background of the ever-evolving AR gaming realm.
