Pokémon Go Players Caused Up To $7.3 Billion Worth Of Damage, Study Says

In the early months of the Pokémon Go craze, hardly a day went by when news of people doing absolutely crazy things while playing the game made the headlines. At the time, reports of damages caused by players who would actually drive while using the app were speculated to be worth millions. A new study estimates that it could actually be worth billions.

Although the number of people playing Pokémon Go has gone down significantly since its launch, quite a few would-be trainers are still walking around towns trying to catch the little critters. Unfortunately, some of these players are also doing it while driving. According to a recent study titled “Death by Pokemon GO,” this habit might have cost up to $7.3 billion in damages.

The researchers got their data by looking at the cases of misuse of the app in Tippecanoe County, Indiana where the damage caused by playing the game was estimated to reach $25.5 million. From there, they applied the numbers to a nationwide scale.

“We estimate the total incremental county-wide cost of users playing Pokémon GO while driving, including the value of the two incremental human lives lost, to be in the range of $5.2 million to $25.5 million over only the 148 days following the introduction of the game. Extrapolation of these estimates to nation-wide levels yields a total ranging from $2 to $7.3 billion for the same period,” the paper reads.

Now, it’s worth noting that these figures include the costs of vehicle damages and fatalities. As PC Mag reports, at least two deaths have been attributed to playing Pokémon Go, with several car crashes occurring all over the country.

These are also figures that would not normally make the headlines simply because they involve intricate details. Basically, the paper argues that those who play Pokémon Go while driving might be responsible for significantly more damages than people assume.