The mobile killer app of the decade has shown no signs of slowing down, as Pokemon GO surpassed $3 billion in lifetime revenue this week according to an analytics firm. Pokemon GO first launched in July 2016 and was an immediate smash hit, bringing fans of the franchise something they had wanted for a very long time - an alternate reality game that populated the world with Pokemon to track down and capture with friends, surpassing 1 billion downloads earlier this year.
The game became such a social phenomenon that meet-ups quickly evolved into full on fan festivals, and despite the game's early flaws - unstable server connections, an anemic multiplayer offering, and more - Pokemon GO became the mobile gaming juggernaut by the time its first year had wrapped up, generating over $800 million in revenue in its first year. The game hit a rocky patch during developer Niantic's attempts to implement early fixes to the game's glaring shortcomings in 2017, but bounced back last year, once again generating over $800 million, an impressive feat for a game three years old at that point. This year, Pokemon GO has already generated over $750 million.
According to analytics firm SensorTower, Pokemon GO has now hit another major milestone this week, surpassing $3 billion in lifetime revenue. For context, the game has seen some impressive revenue figures just over the last few months alone: in August, the game generation $110 million, while in September, it peaked at $126 million for the month. User spending in October is down to just shy of $70 million, but the numbers are absolutely staggering all the same. The United States is the major contributor to those sales, generating $1.1 billion of the game's total lifetime revenue, while Japan has generated $884 million, making it the second biggest contributor to revenue.
Pokemon GO's continued success is due in large part to the fact that Niantic consistently rolls out popular updates to the game. The company recently added a whole new generation of Pokemon to the mobile app this year, and also debuted the iconic Team Rocket group of villains, which led to a major influx in sales as lapsed users jumped back in for a chance to battle the organization and liberate the Pokemon it had taken under its control. The persistent theme in Pokemon GO's most successful events are that they unify the game's playerbase into working together once more, and that sense of community has worked wonders in keeping players going even through the game's slower periods.
Pokemon GO is one of modern gaming's most amazing accomplishments. For a game that was fundamentally broken at launch, it managed to succeed in spite of its shortcomings thanks to a singular focus on the traits that have made the Pokemon franchise so popular - social elements like community and teamwork. In an industry that can sometimes seem cold when finances are calculated and revenue is discussed, it's nice to remember that Pokemon GO, despite being a money-generating juggernaut, got there because it brought a ton of fans together.
Pokemon GO is available now on iOS and Android mobile devices.
Source: SensorTower