With the latest update, Snapchat users in the United States and Canada are now able to locate virtual Easter Eggs in public spaces. The eggs are interactive, and much like catching Pokemon in "Pokemon GO," you must be within a certain distance in order to collect them. Over one million eggs have been strewn across North America, and the competition is on to find more than your friends.

Easter egg hunting just went digital

Snapchat is recording the eggs users find as certain types carry more value than others. Plain eggs, which could be white, blue, green, or pink in hue, are worth one point.

Golden eggs, which are more scattered and difficult to find, are worth five points. While in Snap Map mode, users can click on the trio of eggs in the upper right-hand corner to check their progress.

Users are able to see where they stand both globally and among their friends. The leaderboard keeps track of your global rank and how many eggs you need to collect in order to move into the next percentage of hunters. Users have until 9 PM PT/midnight ET on April 1 to find as many eggs as possible. Collecting the eggs will also unlock additional filters for use in camera mode.

Why the sudden move toward on-the-go gaming?

Though Snapchat has not expressed intentions to revamp the app into a gaming platform, the new update has people wondering if similar events will take place in the future.

Many users were displeased with the previous update that completely modified the layout of the app, making it difficult to navigate. Kylie Jenner also caused the app to take a serious blow in February, having tweeted "sooo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me... ugh this is so sad." This caused Snapchat to lose roughly $1.3 million in market value.

Snapchat's stock dropped even further after a controversial ad for the game "Would You Rather" asked users if they would prefer to slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown. This question references the pop stars' prior relationship, which ended in 2009 due to a domestic violence situation. In response to the ad, Rihanna asked her 60 million Instagram followers to stop using the app.

The incident caused Snapchat to lose $800 million more in market value.

Given the circumstances, it's no wonder that the Snapchat team would want to construct an event to make up for the damage. These recent hits to the company's reputation have caused many users to flock elsewhere. Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have added story features and direct photo sharing, which were once unique staples of Snapchat. The Easter event seems to be successful thus far, with many users responding positively.
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