As well as being a ton of fun, it turns out Pokémon Go is really good for your health too.
Why? Well, according to a new study, people who play the game have an increased activity level, regardless of who they are.
A group at Microsoft Research conducted a study into a number of people who used the Microsoft Band, which monitors the activity of people who wear it.
They then correlated the data of 30,000 users with their Bing searches (though, to be honest, who uses Bing?) for Pokémon Go.
Searches such as "how to play Pokémon Go" and "Pokémon Go eevee evolution" likely indicated that they were active players, finding 1,420 people of this ilk.
Microsoft then compared their activity from 30 days before to 30 days after starting the game, and then compared those to 50,000 random Microsoft Band wearers.
What to Read Next
Phew. That's a lot of numbers, but the basic conclusion of all this was that they found that the number of steps Pokémon Go users took increased by 25% - or 1,473 - during the 30 day period.
"In the short time span of the study, we estimate that Pokémon Go has added a total of 144 billion steps to US physical activity," said Eric Horovitz from Microsoft Research (via MIT Technology Review).
It also increased exercise in men and women, regardless of their age or weight, and could increase life expectancy, as Horovitz and the team estimated that the rate could add up to 2.8 million years to the lives of US players.
Not bad going - it certainly makes us feel better about putting off all those trips to the gym!
