Niantic unveiled plans to pull its popular mobile game Pokemon Go from devices running older versions of the Android and iOS systems, citing a need to focus on the majority of users who use more powerful handsets.

An update planned for October will result in the AR game being ditched from devices running Android 5, iOS 10 and iOS 11, Niantic revealed through its Pokemon Go Twitter account.

The Verge noted the game required access to a device’s camera, GPS and other features, which could be demanding for a phone using an older operating system.

Pokemon Go registered 37.4 million downloads on Google Play and the App Store between 1 January and 30 August alone, analytics company Appfigures estimated.

And App Annie ranked the game as the most-played in Germany during Q2 in terms of time spent, highlighting a move by Niantic to enable indoor features as Covid-19 (coronavirus) restricted consumers’ movements.

The publisher ended support for Pokemon Go on Apple Watch devices in mid-2019.