Niantic's Pokémon Go finally arrived in the franchise's home market of Japan in July 22. McDonald's immediately grabbed the opportunity to sponsor the record-breaking game by converting its 3,000 stores across the country into Pokémon Go "gyms."
Pokémon Go has already boosted businesses in the U.S. and Europe by luring players in their stores. The New York Post reported that New York pizzeria L'inizio Pizza Bar just boomed its sales to 75% after its manager spent $10 on the Lure Module, which virtually lures Pokémons to the store for a limited time. Many restaurants are currently adopting the same strategy after reports of its positive effect on business.
Now, by converting McDonald's stores into Pokémon Go gyms, Japanese customers will definitely be back in the Golden Arches once again. If the partnership is profitable, McDonald's might consider adding PokeGyms to other markets.
However, McDonald's investors should also realize that its Pokémon Go partnership isn't an exclusive one, and that rivals could also sign similar deals to their stores as well. This means that the Pokémon-fueled interest in McDonald's Japanese stores may just live for a short time unless they make an original gimmick that will keep bringing customers back.
Also, Nintendo probably won't benefit too much from players of Pokémon flooding into McDonald's locations since it only owns a third of The Pokémon Company, along with Game Freak and Creatures, which have co-created almost every Pokémon game.
Nintendo didn't develop Pokémon Go. It was created by Niantic, a former Alphabet unit which Nintendo owns a minor stake in.
Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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