"India has a rapid growth in that community space": Yuki Kawamura on Pokemon GO, social-interactive gaming, and India [Exclusive]

Pokemon GO's popularity in India has been steadily growing over the years ever since the game launched a little over half a decade ago. I experienced the same first-hand during the GO Fest 2024 Kolkata meet-up and have been eager ever since to chat with someone from Niantic about what they think about the game's growth and future in the subcontinent.

The opportunity finally arrived during the Pokemon Festivities event in Mumbai that took place earlier last week on October 16, 2024. I had the good fortune to interact with Yuki Kawamura, the Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships and Special Projects, at Niantic.

We had a quick chat about Pokemon GO's social-interactive gaming aspect in India, the community, and more.

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Pokemon GO's Yuki Kawamura discusses community-driven focus in India and more

New Pikachu looks in the festive season (Image via Angshuman Dutta/Sportskeeda)

Q: How is Pokemon GO bearing the flag and building its category of social-interactive gaming in India?

Yuki Kawamura: One of the focuses of Pokemon GO is to build communities around this geolocation-based game. We are holding so many events locally.

For instance every month across almost 30 cities in India, we hold community days where we have more than 50 communities across. They are playing together, bonding together, and engaging together.

That is the kind of social interactiveness we are seeing. Compared to other markets, India has a rapid growth in that community space.

Q: How important is the Indian gaming audience and tech talent in the country for the game and Niantic’s dream of AR?

Yuki Kawamura: AR is one of our focus areas in terms of technology investment. We are seeing adoptions of this AR feature in Pokemon GO, especially in India. So we would like to continue investing in that technology here and showcase what we can do with this new technology

Q: When compared to other countries with major Pokemon GO player bases, how do you feel the Indian Pokemon GO community differs or is unique?

Yuki Kawamura: I can’t really compare with other markets but one thing I can definitely say is that people here are really excited about the Pokemon GO community. When I join a Community Day in India, everyone is so excited to play Pokemon GO together - walking together and exploring together. I feel that vibe and that’s really a strong point of India.

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Pikachu in a saree is set to debut soon in Pokemon GO (Image via Niantic)

In the Pokemon Festivities event in Mumbai, The Pokemon Company showcased Pikachu in a kurta and a saree. The latter is set to make its debut in Pokemon GO at the Festival of Lights event next month.