Mobile market researcher App Annie has revealed that Pokémon GO generated $950 million in revenue during 2016.
Despite launching halfway through the year, the app was the most downloaded game on iOS and Google Play in 2016. In terms of revenue, it came third - trailing Monster Strike and Clash Royale.
App Annie's report concludes that the combination of simple gameplay, social connectivity and - of course - the famous brand all contributed to Pokémon GO's triumph:
By attracting millions of non-gamers, it reached a level of success that eludes even some of the most successful traditional video games. This was thanks to the game's beloved intellectual property, simple mechanics, real-world augmented reality gameplay, and perhaps most of all, its social nature.
Of course, as has been stated several times, Nintendo will only see a fraction of that $950 million, but the impact of the game goes away beyond the cash generated by in-app purchases; Pokémon GO has increased awareness of the brand internationally, and has helped boost merchandise as well as sales of Pokémon Sun And Moon, which launched at the end of 2016 and has become a massive seller.
How much revenue Pokémon GO can create this year - when it has a full 12 months of availability - remains to be seen. Niantic has just added select Gen 2 monsters to the game, but has hidden them away inside eggs - one of the title's premium items - leading to accusations that the game is sliding towards "pay to win" mechanics.
[source venturebeat.com, via go.appannie.com]
Comments (24)
Crumbs, that's quite a lot.
I wonder how it's going to work once all of Gen 2 are released into the wild... it's going to make catching the few gen 1 pokemon I need tougher as there will be less chance of a spawn... maybe they could introduce special incence that only make Gen 1 pokemon appear for 30 mins, same could be made for gen 2, have generation specific incenses
That means Nintendo earned like, around $100,000,000?
Wait till pokemon comes out on Switch.It of course will not have noware near its sells but it's going to be massive never the kass
@amiiboacid That is still a lot of money to have. I would be set for life if I had $100,000,000.
The problem with figures is that people can interrupt them in many ways. I see this as a good number as it is $100,000,000 more than they had
And sadly it shows why so much of the industry is going mobile. Nintendo's AAA games probably cost more than ten times as much to make, and would be lucky to get 10% of this revenue.
How much of that pie do Nintendo get?
Well good job for all parties involved!
To celebrate, throw in a pack-in game to the Switch
They should put Pokémon go on switch somehow even though I don't play it anymore
PS: I bet pokken will be re announced for switch
And I never wasted a single cent. Real, high-quality games are where MY money goes!
I already got Pokemon Sun and Moon so Go to me is all but unnecessary but congrat to Nintendo and Niantic for their success.
Enough to make up for the 90+% who didn't buy Super Mario Run, then.
@Niinbendo
@rjc-32 Niantic have already increased the number of spawn areas available, they did this a while back leading to people thinking Gen 2 was going to come much earlier.
It shouldn't make a huge difference to completing Gen 1... and if it does I can help you out once trading arrives.
@AlexSora89 Well, except Niantic made the money... Nintendo probably just gets a standard licensing fee for the Pokémon rights. Except Gamefreak own that. Wait, does Nintendo make ANY money from this?
Meanwhile, super Mario run sputters along...
That's a lot of money, hopefully they keep improving it as I am still enjoying a little Pokemon hunt every now and then.
@Peach64 : My concern exactly. Quite frankly, I wouldn't blame Game Freak for abandoning the main series games entirely in favour of chasing the mobile audience considering how much money they'll be making for such an (arguably) negligible effort in comparison to the depth and complexity that the main series of games demand.
Of course I do not want that to happen, but many developers have forfeited deeper, more conventional gaming experiences in favour of the cheap and nasty, instant gratification-style experiences that the current market is most unfortunately all too receptive to.
@Snow-Dust Pokemon go cannot work on Switch due to lacking a 4G connection.
Pokemon certainly sell
I tried sticking with the game. I really did. But with Gen II Pokemon trickling out slowly and no new, added features (battling and trading), the game is a bore and I've bowed out. And its even more glaring with Sun and Moon now available (which has all those features and access to almost all 800+ Pokemon)
Good on them. Even if Nintendo gets a fraction of that, it is still a very large fraction. I wonder how much they also sold/made from the Go+.
I know this must have been good for third parties as well for their business, like the ones selling power banks, sponsors, and phone companies with data network, travel supplies, etc.
@Peach64 mobile doesn't bother me. The companies that completely shut down their traditional offerings and go completely mobile only have themselves to blame, though.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE So tiny that they mentioned in an investor meeting that it would have negligible impact on their bottom line (of course stock price fell dramatically afterwards).
More like crumb of a pie lol
Wow...helped sell 3ds and pokemon sun and moon on top of that
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