From GameCube to a Viral Walk

Key moments — product, business, and the Taiwan surge.

  1. 2001

    Pikmin is born

    Miyamoto's GameCube RTS, inspired by his new hobby: gardening.

  2. 2021 · Nov

    Pikmin Bloom launches

    2M downloads in two weeks (Japan 43%).

  3. 2022 · Jul

    Co-op update

    Weekly flower-planting challenges and friend invites.

  4. 2024 · Jul

    Postcard cap 400 -> 3,000

    Players were collecting (and 'curating ugly ones') faster than storage allowed.

  5. 2024 · Aug

    D2C web shop

    Direct sales bypassing the 30% app-store cut.

  6. 2024 · Nov

    Kyoto Hidden Gems

    City collaboration explicitly framed as over-tourism dispersal.

  7. 2025 · May

    Sold to Scopely

    Niantic's whole games division sold for US$3.5B (Pikmin Bloom is one asset within it).

  8. 2025 · Oct

    Kaohsiung Tour

    Taiwan's first official large-scale Tour, with the city government.

  9. 2025 · Dec

    $100M lifetime spend

    Best year yet — the only Niantic game growing every year.

  10. 2026 · Jan

    Official zh Threads opens

    ~18,000 followers on day one — a key node in Taiwan's surge.

  11. 2026 · Feb

    'Qing-dynasty Pikmin' meme

    Lunar New Year x Empresses in the Palace marathon: flowerpot-carrying eunuchs go viral as 'real-life Pikmin'.

  12. 2026 · May

    4.5th anniversary + Chiayi mini-walk

    Still hitting activity highs years after launch.

中文版