Research conducted by American economists (John McConnell & Mara Faccio) showed the world that the fun game Pokemon Go has a downside. Literally, 148 days after the game’s release for mobile devices, users caused material damage of $25 million in just one Tippacanoe County, Indiana.
There is also a hypothesis that Pokemon Go was responsible for two deaths and numerous injuries resulting from collisions between players and residents of an American state. If the figures are recalculated for the entire United States, the number increases to 7-8 billion. Economists remained silent on the damage on a global scale expressed in monetary terms.
The calculation method is simple. By analyzing data on road accidents in the USA over a decade, it is easy to review incidents related to car accidents after the game was released. Maps with PokéStops helped narrow down the research to locations where new Pokémon and loot were involved in accidents.
It is not difficult to guess that the culprits of the accidents are the users of the Pokemon Go game themselves, since the interface is designed for walking. However, smartphone owners who decided to speed up the process of development sat behind the wheel of their cars, thereby creating a threat to others.
