Winter is Coming! What Will Pokemon Go Do?

For those who don’t know, I live in the wonderfully cold capital of Canada. I’ll let you in on a secret, it gets really freaking cold in the winter and I’m not talking a brisk chilly winter day. I’m talking about how you would imagine North of the Wall in Game of Thrones would feel. It regularly goes as low as -22F and that’s without windchill. Oh, and for those who haven’t experienced the pleasure of what a windchill is, it’s when the wind blows and it’s colder on your skin than it actually is. It makes the temperature go from -22F to -30F. This is all to say that while I am still enjoying Pokémon Go, what happens when the Stark’s are actually proven right? Do my kilometers count for more? Will all my Pokémon, with the exception of ice Pokémon, go into hibernation (Rattatas you’re allowed)? How will Pokémon Go fair in the winter when most of us bundle up and have no desire to brave the chilly weather?

I’m concerned that Ninatic won’t consider this to be an issue for Pokémon Go. I’m not sure where the majority of Pokémon Go players reside [Ed Note: Not where it’s -22F, obviously), so I’m not sure whether location and weather was raised as a concern in the construction of the game. Not that Niantic would divulge such information. I’m also worried that with their decline in daily online users, they will be releasing a new patch soon. A patch in the dead of winter. An update would provide a surge in users online, but will it come with warnings about the weather? It’s no stupider than avoiding walking into the maw of Gyrados. While adults should have some caution when it comes to spending excessive lengths of time outside in the cold, kids won’t necessarily have the common sense to realize that it’s dangerous to spend too long outside. I don’t know whether or not Niantic would institute this type of warning because their app depends on people using the app and being outside. Having a warning might deter people from playing the game at all.

At this point, I’m speculating what will happen when winter finally comes. I really don’t know how Pokémon Go will maintain its numbers when the seasons change. I did mention before that the numbers are already declining but perhaps with the release of Gen 2, numbers will climb.  I’m just hoping that Gen 2 won’t be released once winter is finally here.

After all, winter is coming!