Pokemon Go Players Take 200K Trips Around Earth

The Pokemon Go fever may have broken, but the game is still inspiring people to get out and move.

Since its introduction in July, the real-world scavenger hunt has energized folks around the world to walk impressive distances in search of virtual creatures.

“You know that we are fans of a little walk every now and then,” the Pokemon Go team wrote in a blog entry. “That’s why we were excited back in September to announce that Pokemon Go trainers had walked more than 4.6 billion kilometers since we launched.”

In just three months the number has grown, nearly doubling to a whopping 8.7 billion kilometers (5.4 billion miles) as of Dec. 7.

“That’s more than 200,000 trips around Earth,” the blog said. “Fun fact: A commercial jetliner would take more than 1,000 years to cover the same distance.”

But all those steps were not taken in vain: Trainers caught more than 88 billion Pokemon along the way—roughly 533 million Pokemon a day.

“Get out and go this holiday season, and let’s add some more kilometers to that total,” the Pokemon Go team said, thanking players for their “continued support.”

The free mobile app takes players out of the digital world and into the physical one, using smartphone location information. Users are encouraged to tear themselves away from the couch and go outside—exploring their neighborhood, community, and beyond—to catch wild Pokemon with friends and other players.

Nintendo’s long-awaited Pokemon Go Plus wearable accessory hit shelves in September, allowing folks to keep their phone in their pocket and go about day-to-day activities while still collecting resources and capturing monsters.

In October, game maker Niantic announced a new capture bonus, which you collect when earning medals for catching certain types of Pokemon.