A study from Stanford University and Microsoft found that engaged Pokémon Go players walked an extra 1,473 steps a day, roughly 26 percent more activity, while playing the augmented reality game.
For people aged 15 to 49 an extra 1,000 steps a day could amount to 41.4 additional days of life expectancy, according to the researchers.
“Across the 25 million U.S. Pokémon Go users, this would translate to 2.85 million years additional life added to U.S. users,” the study said.
The researchers tracked almost 32,000 Pokémon Go users for three months using the Microsoft Band’s accelerometer and gyrometer and found the game “significantly increased” levels of physical activity.
“These increases are not restricted to already active and healthy individuals, but also reach individuals with low prior activity levels, and overweight or obese individuals,” the study found.
Pokémon Go was also found to be more likely to improve the movement of less active people than other health apps. When compared with four top-rated, “leading” iOS and Android health apps, which aren’t named, the study found the game attracts more users and leads to better results.
“Pokémon Go leads to larger increases in physical activity than other mobile health apps and further attracts more users who are not yet very active,” the study stated.
