Forget Pokemon: Snapchat Wants You To Hunt For Ghosts In AR Game

Zinger Key Points
  • A new augmented reality game from Snapchat will have players searching for ghosts.
  • Snap shares have traded in a 52-week range of $9.38 to $47.71.

Fans of augmented reality games may have another creature to catch after years of chasing Pikachu and other Pokemon on the mobile game “Pokemon Go.” A new game from Snapchat will have gamers chasing ghosts.

What Happened: The first augmented reality game from Snapchat, owned by parent Snap Inc SNAP, is called “Ghost Phone,” as reported by The Verge.

The “found phone” title is a playable mystery of the previous owner of a smartphone. Users play the game in Snapchat and hunt for ghosts around them using augmented reality.

“You’ll complete different types of activities to find and capture the ghosts,” the article reads. “As you capture more ghosts, you’ll unlock additional things you can check out.”

Snap users can search for the game in the Lens Explorer or go here to start playing.

Snap offers several of its own games like “Bitmoji Party,” “Bitmoji Tennis” and “Bitmoji Paint” and also features games like “Tiny Royale” and “Bumped Out” made by Zynga, a unit of Take-Two Interactive Software TTWO.

Related Link: Move Over Pikachu, Is It Time To Catch LeBron James? Pokemon Go Maker Plans New NBA Game

Why It’s Important: Snap ended the recent second quarter with 347 million daily active users, a figure that was up 18% year-over-year.

The company saw shares slide on missed EPS estimates and the withdrawal of third-quarter guidance.

“While the continued growth of our community increases the long-term opportunity, for our business, our financial results for Q2 do not reflect our ambition,” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said.

Growth of the company’s augmented reality and its original content were highlighted in the earnings report. The launch of augmented reality games could be another growth driver for the company as it works to maintain its large user base and keep them on the platform.

“We are evolving our business and strategy to reaccelerate revenue growth, including innovating on our products, investing heavily in our direct response advertising business, and cultivating new sources of revenue to help diversify our topline growth.”

Not all augmented reality games have caught on like “Pokemon Go,” but Snap could see the game gain a following of players and also utilization of its AR features like Lens.

SNAP Price Action: Snap shares gained 1.31% Thursday, closing at $9.67 versus a 52-week range of $9.38 to $47.71.

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Posted In: GamingNewsSocial MediaTechGeneralAugmented RealityEvan SpiegelLens ProtocolMobile GamesPokemon GoSnapChat
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