Playing 'Pokémon Sleep' Could be Dangerous for Your Health, Doctor Warns

A leading academic has accused The Pokémon Company of trying to profit from insomniacs with their new mobile app, Pokémon Sleep. The latest game filled with Pocket Monsters has become an instant hit on Smartphones, turning users' sleeping patterns into a chance to compete and score collectibles. While millions around the world have already downloaded Pokémon Sleep, a behavioral addiction expert has warned that gamifying sleep may have "unintended consequences" that The Pokémon Company haven't fully thought through.

How does the Pokémon Sleep app work?

Released worldwide in July 2023, the Pokémon Sleep app has already been downloaded millions of times across various app stores.

It incentivizes users to get a good night's sleep, tracking the user's breathing patterns and movements by using the Smartphone's microphone and accelerometer. After the player has woken up, they'll receive items dependent on the quality of their sleep. As with many games available these days, Pokémon Sleep also offers in-app purchases. "I don't think it's a proper use of gamification," David Chandross, Ph.D. told Newsweek. Chandross is a faculty member at Toronto Metropolitan University in the Masters of Digital Media program. His research is in the field of digital media and he is also a neuroscientist who has conducted extensive work into 'Serious Game Design', aging and learning. They noted that gaming, when applied correctly, can be helpful when trying to get some sleep, but that's not likely to be The Pokémon Company's intention with their new app.

"Is it going to help you sleep more? No, because you're not doing anything different other than lying on the pillow with a phone next your head." They continued, "I think Pokémon is trying to make money off of people that are insomniac. I don't think they're offering a real solution. It might be helpful. I distrust the motivation." The Pokémon Company isn't the only one attempting to make a game out of life these days, as Chandross noted that "Sony and other major companies" are focusing on "lifestyle gamification" right now. Pokémon Sleep isn't The Pokémon Company's first attempt to gamify common life actions. 2020's Pokémon Smile is another app-based game targeted towards children that incentivized them to brush their teeth. "This will probably be more effective than the entire wearable/health tech/Huberman Podcast etc industry," Twitter user @nearlydaniel wrote when discussing the Pokémon Sleep trend. "Gamification is really powerful," he noted. On the flipside in the same discussion, @Wantedbypolis said, "this seems dangerous..." "Not sure I love that we're gamifying sleep now," host of Tech Won't Save Us podcast Paris Marx wrote. Overall, Pokémon Sleep appears to be dividing opinions on social media, with just as many people seeing the health benefits as those who appear skeptical of the repercussions. Whatever people think, the concept of the app proving popular. An hour-long ASMR video of Snorlax (a type of Pokémon) sleeping has been viewed tens of thousands of times online.

Dangers associated with Pokémon Sleep

Since sleep is the name of the game with this new Pokémon app, players are incentivized to get the best shuteye possible. This led the Japanese walk-through site Game8 to list "sleeping pills" as a way to get ahead in the game, reported Atomaton-Media, while other gaming sites like Gamesradar+ categorically told their readers not to use medicinal aids to play. "My own view is that gamifying any behavior that results in individuals engaging in behaviors that are not good for them in the long run should not be encouraged," Dr. Mark Griffiths, Distinguished Professor of Behavioral Addiction at Nottingham Trent University told Newsweek.

"There is nothing wrong in principle in trying to get people to sleep better but this is an example of where there may be unintended consequences that the game's developers hadn't fully thought through," he said. The Pokémon Sleep website features disclaimers in its small print stating that the app is used for "entertainment purposes and is not intended for use in detection, diagnosis, or treatment of any medical condition or disease." There have been privacy fears expressed about the Pokémon Sleep app's ability to keep the phone's microphone open during its use. "That data will only be saved in the device and will be deleted after 24 hours," Yuri Horie, the App Product Marketing Manager for The Pokémon Company International told CNN.

Making sleep competitive

When used correctly, combining gaming and sleep can be a beneficial tool according to Dr. Chandross. He suggested setting goals for sleep rather than entering into a competition is the way forward in their opinion.

"[What about] an app that measures all the different things that you put on and You set little goals like maybe one hour sleep, two hours of sleep, little achievable tiny goals. Going to bed a little bit earlier, and tracking it, and then build that into a story, a narrative, that's soft, what we call a cozy game. I think that is a better approach than competing with others to see who can snooze the most," Chandross told Newsweek. "Competing in general, I think there's a number of negatives associated with the whole mindset of competition when you're trying to relax. It's the two different directions that are pulling at you, let's say. "I would say the general idea behind [Pokémon Sleep] promises much, but I think will deliver little," Chandross said. Newsweek has contacted The Pokémon Company for further comment via email.