Was McDonald's the right first major business partner for Pokemon GO? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answer by Patrick Dugan, Product Designer at Quora, on Quora:
Nintendo has had an existing relationship with McDonald's for years, first with McDonald's acting as a free WIFI provider for the original Nintendo DS and later as an official Nintendo Zone partner where Nintendo 3DS owners could go and download exclusive game content for free.
Additionally, McDonald's has a long history of offering Pokemon-themed toys in their Happy Meals. So in plain terms, the business partnership between Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and McDonald's has existed for years, and McDonald's has clearly identified being able to attract video game players to their restaurants as being strategically valuable.
Niantic (the developer of Pokemon GO) in their previous augmented reality game Ingress partnered with companies in a similar fashion to provide exclusive game content to Ingress players. A partnership between Niantic and the Japanese convenience store Lawson, for example, provided Ingress players with exclusive content in a model that is likely to be emulated in their current partnership with McDonald's.
Given the existing history and profitability of the previous ventures between McDonald's, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company, the partnership makes sound strategic business sense.
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