A number of local businesses have jumped on the Pokémon Go bandwagon to reach out to more customers.
The mobile gaming juggernaut was released in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States on July 6, 2016, and has already overtaken Twitter in daily active users in the U.S., and sees more engagement than Facebook.
While Pokémon Go has not yet officially released in Canada, players have found alternate means to download the mobile game, which takes the creatures from Nintendo's 20-year-old franchise and transposes them into the real world through augmented reality.
The tracking firm SimilarWeb estimates 6.3 per cent of Canadian Android users have already downloaded the game, and 3.16 per cent of users on the mobile platform count themselves as daily active users.
The Let's Scrabbalatte Board Game Café on Elm Street already caters to the gamer demographic, and co-owner Erik Van Beek said Pokémon Go has taken the business by storm.
Van Beek said he knew the game would be a phenomenon when he heard people at different tables, who didn't know each other, all talking about Pokémon Go.
Because the café is downtown, it happens to be in one of Greater Sudbury's most active areas for Pokémon Go players.
A big part of the game revolves around travelling to areas called PokéStops and gyms, that are located at real-world landmarks.
At PokéStops players can get more items to help them capture and level up their Pokémon, and gyms allow them to take their creatures into battle against other teams.
Let's Scrabbalatte is next door to a downtown PokéStop and just a block away from a gym.
Players can attach an item called a lure to a PokéStop, which attracts more Pokémon to the area for 30 minutes. That influx of digital creatures attracts more players to the location.
Van Beek said he is giving a 50 per cent discount on admission or lattes to Pokémon Go players that drop lures near their location, attracting more foot traffic to the area.
“We're one of the first places to say we're on board with this downtown,” he said.
To celebrate the game Let's Scrabbalatte is also launching a line of Pokémon-themed drinks based around some of the most popular creatures: Pikachu, Squirtle, Charmander and Bulbasaur.
On the Kingsway the owners of MojoVerse, a store that caters to geek culture, have said their Pokémon merchandise sales have increased since the game became a cultural phenomenon.
“We will be expanding our Pokémon stock in the future, especially now that it's so popular,” said MojoVerse co-owner Moe Charette. “Isn't it cool how Pokémon is relevant again?”
MojoVerse sales Pokémon plush toys, cards (imported from Japan) and other official items.
Charette said he has emailed Pokémon Go developer Niantic, Inc. to see if his store can become a local PokéStop to become a meeting place for players.
Sudbury's Secret Identity Apparel has also caught Pokémon Go fever and has created a line of T-shirts with the logos of each of the game's three teams (Mystic, Instinct and Valor).
Secret Identity co-owner Paul Ungar said he has reached out to local artists to create some more Pokémon-themed designs for T-shirts and other apparel.
Local artist Rob Sacchetto is already at work on zombified versions of various Pokémon that will make their way onto Secret Identity's clothing.
