Pikmin Bloom

Pikmin Bloom is a 2021 augmented reality mobile game in the Pikmin series, developed and published by Niantic. Like Pokémon Go, it rewards players for spending time outside. The player's real-world movements are rewarded with items for Pikmin creatures. Its worldwide rollout began in late October 2021.

Pikmin Bloom
Developer(s)Niantic
Publisher(s)Niantic
Director(s)
SeriesPikmin
Platform(s)iOS, Android
Release
  • AU/SEA: October 26, 2021
  • NA: October 28, 2021
  • JP: November 1, 2021
  • EU/WW: November 2, 2021
Genre(s)Augmented reality, location-based game

Gameplay

Pikmin Bloom is an augmented reality mobile game in the Pikmin series. For wandering and spending time outside, players are rewarded with items that can either grow or feed Pikmin creatures[2] that appeared throughout the main Pikmin games.

The walking player is depicted as a Nintendo Account Mii (or one with limited customization for those without such an account) leading Pikmin, creating a trail of blossoming flowers on the map with flower petals collected from Pikmin, and the Pikmin can find items. This includes fruit and costumes. The Pikmin grow flowers on their heads when fed nectar, which in turn gives you more flower petals, and then plant more flowers on the map.[3] Players can explore to collect flowers of different pigments specific to a location. There are planned, collaborative multiplayer events involving large flowers.[2]

The game is free-to-play. Like Niantic's Pokémon Go, the player can use real-world money to purchase virtual coins to boost progress.[2]

The player can take real photographs with virtual Pikmin. The lifelogging component, inspired by Olimar's daily ship logs from the first Pikmin game, encourages the player to make and caption photos for daily calendar entries. The game app connects with Apple Health and Google Fit to count steps but has no smartwatch connection.[2]

Development

Niantic developed Pikmin Bloom under license from Nintendo after having previously collaborated on Pokémon Go.[2]

It was first announced in 2021.[2] Global rollout began in Australia and Singapore on October 27, 2021,[3] North and South America on October 28,[4] Japan on November 1,[5] and lastly it was available worldwide by November 2.[6]

Niantic has planned retail location partnerships.[2]

Reception

Early reviewers likened Pikmin Bloom to a gamified fitness experience, similar to fitness apps that convert daily steps taken into coins and minigames.[10][2]

Some Android users using Android 11 or 12 at the game's launch reported delayed notifications including SMS messages.[11] Initial reports of the delayed notifications were reported during beta testing.[12] Niantic acknowledged the issues on November 5[13] and released two updates which minimize the delayed notifications.[14]

Pikmin Bloom was downloaded 2 million times in 2 weeks after its launch,[15] and as of May 2022, the game has grossed $5.3 million since its release.[16]

References
  1. "Nintendo teams with Pokemon Go studio Niantic on AR apps". Business Times (Singapore). Archived from the original on November 1, 2021. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  2. Stein, Scott (October 26, 2021). "Pikmin Bloom: How Niantic and Nintendo's new game mixes walking, memory and AR". CNET. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  3. Diaz, Ana (October 26, 2021). "New Pikmin AR game coming from Pokémon Go developer Niantic". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  4. Whitehead, Thomas (October 28, 2021). "Pikmin Bloom Is Now Available In The Americas". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  5. Pikmin Bloom Japan [@PikminBloom_jp] (November 1, 2021). "Pikmin Bloom coming to Japan the 1st of November" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. Reynolds, Matthew (October 27, 2021). "Pikmin Bloom release date: When is Pikmin Bloom releasing in the UK, US and worldwide?". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved November 3, 2021.
  7. "Pikmin Bloom for iPhone/iPad Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  8. Lane, Gavin (November 2, 2021). "Pikmin Bloom Review". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
  9. Minor, Jordan (November 21, 2021). "Pikmin Bloom (for iOS)". PCMag. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  10. Grodt, Jill (October 26, 2021). "Pikmin Bloom: Early Impressions". Game Informer. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  11. Sholtz, Matthew (November 3, 2021). "Notifications feeling sluggish? This popular Android game may be to blame". Android Police. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  12. Schoon, Ben (November 10, 2021). "Niantic's new Pikmin Bloom game seems to cause notification issues for some Android users". Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  13. "[Investigating] (Android) Notification delayed in some devices (Nov 5th, 2021)". Pikmin Bloom Support Community. Niantic. November 5, 2021. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  14. "Release Information - v34.1 (Only Android today)". Pikmin Bloom Support Community. Niantic. November 15, 2021. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  15. Phillips, Tom (November 12, 2021). "Pikmin Bloom downloaded 2m times in two weeks". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on April 24, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  16. Long, Neil (May 5, 2022). "Nintendo's mobile games are about to hit $1.8bn in lifetime revenues". Mobilegamer. Archived from the original on June 7, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.

Further reading
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