News

44K Users Petition for Pokémon Go on Windows 10

• By David Ramel
• July 12, 2016

Windows 10 Mobile may not be so irrelevant after all, judging from an online petition signed by more than 44,000 users who want a mobile game called Pokémon Go (you may have heard of it) developed for Windows 10 and its mobile variant.

Started by "Pokémon Go for Windows," the "Develop Pokémon Go for Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile" petition was posted on the Change.org site. It lists a bunch of stats pointing to the importance of Windows 10 ("the most rapidly growing operating system in the world") and thus petitions:

With the above stated, the community composed of millions of loyal fans and users of Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile humbly request Pokémon GO creators, Niantic, Inc., The Pokémon Company, and Nintendo Co., Ltd., to release Pokémon GO on Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile alongside their Android and iOS counterparts.

"Windows 10 has been installed on over 81 million devices since its release on July 29th, 2015," the petition states. Furthermore, "Through Windows 10, Microsoft has created numerous means for apps and games to be shared across a variety of platforms: Mobile, Tablet, Desktop, & Wearables," and "The Windows 10 store includes carrier billing for apps and in-app purchases via 100 carriers across 57 markets, to reach 3 billion customers." The petition even notes that Windows Phone 8 is the third most popular OS in the world, though it doesn't state how big the gap is between that OS and the leaders, iOS and Android.

Surprisingly, though Pokémon Go has hit mainstream just recently, while generating new levels of hype despite numerous technical glitches, the petition was actually started 10 months ago, according to the site.

"Pokémon Go has taken the world by storm, and it seems a shame that avid fans who were introduced to the franchise long before the app came out are now missing out because they chose Windows over Android or Apple," read a recent comment from a supporter on the petition site. "I believe the Microsoft audience is large enough to warrant a change."

The Pokémon Go craze has vaulted the game to new levels of app store downloads and adoption, surpassing stalwarts like Tinder and becoming the No. 1 hit on the iOS App Store.

Even with the unprecedented levels of hype, though, the question of whether it's ever played on Windows remains open.