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2016 marked the 20th anniversary of Pokémon, and what a celebration it was. From two new main series Pokémon games on the Nintendo 3DS – Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon – as well as the release of the augmented reality game Pokémon GO, the Pokémon franchise had a good year. Just how good?

The Pokémon Company, a joint company of Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures created to handle Pokémon licensing, has revealed to License Global its 2016 retail revenue. The Pokémon Company reportedly brought in $3.3 billion in retail revenue, placing 19th in the world. This is an increase from 2015, during which The Pokémon Company had only $2.1 billion in retail revenue and placed 29th in the world.

Pokémon enjoyed an incredibly strong year at retail in 2016, which marked the brand's 20th anniversary. The milestone, which recognized the first introduction of Pokémon video games 20 years ago, catapulted the perennially popular brand into the global spotlight and kicked off with the first-ever Pokémon Super Bowl commercial. The company also introduced the mobile game "Pokémon Go," which became a global phenomenon and was downloaded 650 million times. Pokémon followed this success with "Pokémon Sun" and "Pokémon Moon" for the Nintendo 3DS, which became the third best-selling Nintendo 3DS titles of all time, adding to the 280 million Pokémon video games already sold.

Drop us a comment telling us what you enjoyed most about the 20th anniversary of Pokémon!

[source images2.advanstar.com]