How much does it cost to develop an app like Pokemon Go?

During the summers of 2016 Pokémon GO cellular sport became a hit, uniting humans of every age similar to the Olympic Games in Rio (only digitally). An app for locating adorable pocket monsters has ended up insanely famous in no time: in 24 hours after release, it became at the pinnacle app listing on App Store and Google Play. Today we can communicate approximately the principal functions of this leisure game and how much it costs to make a recreation like Pokemon GO.

What is Pokemon Go?

Pokémon Go was released to mixed reviews upon launch, but its popularity skyrocketed after its initial release, becoming one of the most used and profitable mobile apps in the world within a few weeks. The game has been credited with popularizing location-based and AR technology, and promoting physical activity. Since its launch, it has been discussed by celebrities such as Justin Bieber, and was even nominated for the Mobile Game of the Year and Best Action Game for the 2017 Webby Awards.

The game is a great example of how Augmented Reality can be used to create an amazing experience for users in the virtual world. By inserting a virtual world inside the real world, users are much more engaged and motivated to learn their way around the app.

Pokémon go had its critics during the release, but it was a phenomenal success at the launch. It is the most downloaded mobile game of all time with over 500 million active monthly users. It has set a record for the most downloaded mobile game in the first month of release. Due to the buzz it generated, companies like Sony and Uber were taking advantage of Pokémon Go by creating consoles and discounts for their services. Unfortunately, there were some drawbacks as well.

Essentials of Pokemon Go

Pokémon GO is known as an augmented reality game. The low-tech concept is to capture Pokémon creatures and use GPS to place them in the real world using location services. This brings an entirely new way to interact with your world. Pokémon GO gives us more opportunities to explore our surroundings, especially when travelling through unfamiliar areas where we can run into a wild Pokémon and catch it. This game is for all ages and people of all ages, just like TV shows and comic books!

It's easy to make a game using a card-based interface. An interactive plot is an extra step. Pokemon GO is about spawning virtual creatures and catching them, so choosing a good way of making background world work is vital. The simplest solution is opening a database and posting objects as ids to Pokemon GO servers. Most Pokemon GO players will install the PokeVision extension available for Google Chrome, it's free and allows you to create new pokemon inside browsers without wifi and on limited devices (like a cell phone). PokeVision also has an API where you can read the weather, catching chances and candy count easily.

The game is free to download and play but there are in-app purchases available for additional in-app items and some "gifts" that give bonuses or extra features like special events or special characters. These purchases are completely optional but some players like the ability to add these unwanted purchases to their Friends list as requested by friends or family.

What it takes to build an Android/iOS game

1. Game design - People who want to be game developers like to create their games. And when they do, they have to follow the process that results in a real game. This is what we call a "game design". Game designers are professionals who understand how users play, and how players interact with each other. They analyze them to come up with new game ideas.

2. Game engine - It’s a software environment that encompasses all of the tools, reusable functionality and assets that allow anyone to make video games. Game engines come in different programming languages, and each has its API (Application Programming Interface), which defines how one interacts with the software to make games, which makes it very easy to use

3. App prototype - You may be thinking, why do I need a prototype when the app already has a working version? This is very understandable but the main issue here is that the app prototype is more of a design tool. It’s easier to show than tell and the app prototype is much better at it since you will see everything with your own eyes.

4. Game balance - Game balance refers to that sweet spot that makes a game enjoyable without being too easy or too difficult. It is a balance between the four core elements of a game: ease-of-use, learning curve, choice/consequence and incentives. Finding this balance takes a lot of time, effort and playtesting on behalf of the team designing and developing the game. It is crucial for achieving product-market fit - if your game is poorly balanced, it is likely to be abandoned quickly by players who don’t feel like it offers enough challenge but at the same time, it isn’t easy enough to pick up and play. Your players should feel challenged at all times; if you think they might be bored or unchallenged, look.

5. The logic for distributing objects on the map - It is necessary to collect data for a more balanced and realistic Pokemon game. The more data you have, the better your conclusion will be. Since some things that affect your decision-making are hard to quantify, such as how popular a certain place might be or which items are most often traded there, we'll need to provide as much data as possible. In addition to gathering data, play the game at least once and try to defeat all 151 of the Pokedex. You will know if you've made the right decision when you see an accurate representation of how the game plays out in your head.

6. Game graphics and sound - As Pokemon GO is an augmented reality game, it will be significantly dependent on good graphics that allow players to feel as if the game was real. It would be extremely helpful for the development process if models of Pokemon are already developed before the release so that they can be integrated with the actual app with lesser confusion. Also, this would help in earning more profit since good looking and realistic Pokemon are going to increase the cost of Pokemon GO as well.

This is not it. A game like Pokemon Go does not limit to these features, it has many more functionalities that make it stand out and fascinates the users. Getting it developed though is a matter of analysing. Analysis of where you can get the exact game developed at the least cost possible. If we break the expenses, research shows in the USA it might be the most expensive investment you would ever do. Generally, the cost of developing a game like Pokemon Go in the USA is around $500k-$600k -

● The client application and game design — $60k-100K

● UI/UX — $6.5K

● Back End — $80K

● Server expenses — $150K

● QA and testing — $50K

● Game models with animation — $100K

● Sounds — $15K-20K

● Management — $20K

But we have got your back! It’s the cheapest to get an app like this developed in India. It might cost you $150k-$300k in total to get your game created by Vardhaman Infotech, India’sleading software development company. To get started with your budget-friendly application development without compromising on quality, get in touch with us!