Newsbrief: Since Pokemon Go's explosive launch, its playerbase has shot up and down on a rollercoaster ride that can only be expected when a game has become one of the world's most popular MMORPGs. But in a company blog post today, Niantic has confirmed that its number of total active players has once again been ticking upward, touting a 35 percent growth since May of 2018.

The blog post, which also takes time to discuss the company's partnership with the Knight Foundation, slipped in this statistic while discussing how players have been coming together for the last few months. In June, Niantic released Pokemon Go's social update, which implemented a full friend system and gave players the ability to send gifts to their friends. 

These new features, along with a slew of community and company-organized events, appear to be the driving factor behind the new growth.