Pokémon GO has just recorded its highest daily player spending total since July 2016, the month in which the app first launched.
Last weekend, on Saturday, 25th July, players of Niantic's monster-catching mobile hit spent a combined total of $8.9 million. The figure comes from new Sensor Tower data (thanks, GamesIndustrybiz), which also shows that the following day recorded a similarly impressive $8.6 million in player spending, adding up for a total of $17.5 million across the weekend.
The boost in spending was a result of Pokémon GO Fest, a special two-day event which cost players $14.99 to enjoy. The event could be experienced by anyone around the world, with over 75 species of Pokémon appearing in the wild and in raids, as well as other benefits, all being available to those who signed up.
GamesIndustrybiz reports that Pokémon GO has generated $539 million since the start of 2020, bringing its lifetime revenue total to almost $3.7 billion. Not a bad total for something which has only been around for four years.
The app's continued success has been helped this year by Niantic's stay-at-home changes, which have allowed fans to keep playing while stuck indoors.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 41
"Pokemon Go is a fad"
Okay, apparently people still play this game. Never mind
Biggest Pokémon game of all time.
Why do people spend money on trash mobile games?
@Trajan but spending hundreds and hundreds on consoles and physical software that are in many cases produced via prison labor manufacturing is fine. Right?
@Trajan Why do people complain about what other people do with their life and money?
And I still haven't spent a single dime on it, hooray!
Now that the GO Fest is over, I hope Niantic focuses on getting the Pokemon Home compatibility ready.
@PretendWorking I know right? Guys crazy
Go Fest went pretty well, got a decent number of shinies, topped off candy for a lot of stuff I needed for my pokedex, and that shadow mewtwo tho
That's why I saw a lot of people on their phone this weekend...I assumed it was pokemon go, there was that old man blasting the volume on his phone so i could hear him catching pokemon!
And all that despite all the lags, bugs and lackluster rewards :/
The $15 ticket itself could be bought in advance of the event, but many people would've chosen to wait and see what the event offers before buying.
A lot of the sales would have come from the purchase of remote raid passes, as the event featured a larger number of raids than normal. The game also restricts you to carrying three remote raid passes at once, so it becomes a frequent smaller purchase.
The remote raids were engaged by players who did and didn't buy the tickets alike, so I have to wonder where they made the bulk of the sales that weekend.
If you defocus your eyes and look at that picture, the guy has one arm with a MASSIVE biceps outside of the phone. At least, that's what I saw when initially just scrolling by.
Not the most immediate achievement you'd expect in 2020 from a game normally encouraging active outside movement either.😄
My only complaint is it taking 1,587 Pokeballs and 342 fruits to catch a 15XP Rattata.
The catching mechanic is obviously busted to get you to spend money to buy pokeballs, especially if you don't have stops near you that you can regularly visit.
@PretendWorking @Apportal I mean, this stuff is all over the place, but here’s a summary which was reported on another site back in March : https://www.google.com/amp/s/mynintendonews.com/2020/03/02/nintendo-linked-to-chinese-forced-labour-camps-alongside-sony-microsoft-and-others/amp/
Nintendo has recently denied this, but only in light of recent civil rights movements here in the US.
My main point is, why would anyone care about others spending their money on mobile games? On principle, why is that any worse than spending money on any other video game, no matter the platform? It’s all feeding the same beast, but at least the upkeep and production of mobile games has less of a carbon footprint than say physical merchandise, hardware, and software.
@Crockin nope, but unfortunately all electronics are made in China or Vietnam now, so you don’t really have a choice.
@Crockin why were you talking about prison labor and manufacturing? It had nothing to do with the point.
@Apportal See above
Why are Nintendo getting out of the mobile business again? There's clearly tons of money to be made here.
@Trajan it is unfortunate that many physical good are procured via prison labor, but fortunately there actually IS a handful of choices you can make to reduce this problem. A)buy pre-owned or digital software only B)Vote for leaders and/or policies that vow to end these practices or at least hold these corporations accountable or C)Boycott the company.
Anyway, just let people enjoy things. Spending money on a digital app is far less destructive to humanity and the environment than the mass production of physical goods, even if that game is not produced to appeal to you.
@Crockin I mean, I’m boycotting Sony because they support riots. But you really can’t boycott all electronics. Next year I’m building a PC, pretty much everything is made in China.
Playing Pokemon Blue and Crystal on my 3DS as aggravated the itch to get back into Pokemon Go. So far I've resisted; it's just not for me, I think. Great game, but not for me.
What a bunch of dinks. Spending money on virtual items lmao
@HorridCrow Because that money could be put to better content. This gambling/MLM scheme is creating a "quality trap" for the franchise. Or hell, the money could be put to better humanitarian use, same goes for sports and other areas.
EDIT: "The money enabled you to get New Pokémon Snap!" First of all, that's not the point, because there's no way this game costs this much money to upkeep. And secondly, we may have gotten that game a lot sooner had DLC and third versions and such not been encouraged — with consumer money flowing in favor of merchandise and spinoffs. Furthermore, what happens when Pokémon GO "doesn't pull in the money that it used to"? What happens to the franchise, then? Best case scenario, it might go back to said spinoffs and merchandising. Worst case scenario, it gets called an "unworthy investment" and disappears.
@Trajan Yikes, hoping Trump does anything scares me. But I am not a U.S citizen so I will not say anymore lol.
@Trajan carrot on a stick, bro.
And I’m guilty as charged.
@Trajan Honestly no idea why someone would play a game you don’t like the way they want to
@Crockin You mention the carbon footprint, you should see the environmental disaster caused by Apple then when mining for material for iPhones. Also I'm pretty sure none of what you mention had to do with the persons original point of people spending money on trashy mobile games.
@zombi3wolf right, Apple is one of the WORST offenders and are causing major destruction to humanity and the environment. Totally know about that, and it is very valid. I don’t expect people to just drop their tech, all I’m saying is People should maker wiser decisions when purchasing, like going digital where you would normally buy something physical.
As far my response, My original point is that they made the typical “why do you spend your money on phone games” and I would presume since they are assembling a PC, that this is coming from a place of petty gate keeping. They criticized what Pokémon players spend their money on, so I threw it back. Lol i don’t even play Pokémon go, But I’m here for my people
Not long now until this game has made more money than all mainline Pokémon games combined.
@marnelljm Spending money on a "real" game is better?
@4by3
I looked into this, and was very surprised to see that according to https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/Pokémon the mainline games total in gross revenue at 13.7 billion. PoGo has passed RBG, which was the best seller with 3.5 billion (adjusted for inflation) and PoGo is at 3.7 billion.
@KingBowser86 Such arrogance. There are obviously millions of players who enjoy Pokemon GO, so who are you to say it's not quality content? Besides, the game is run by Niantic. I doubt the unlikely financial bearings of Pokemon GO have a lot of impact on the franchise. Even if it did, people who are a fan of the franchise should be happy that it is generating so much income.
@HorridCrow No, that's straight up revenue and profit numbers. Read some financials, sometime.
@HorridCrow And on top of the barebones animations as well as any other technical issues like the first GoFest or outside issues like breaking UK law, the combat is still mindless compared to the mainline series that made it popular in the first place.
@KingBowser86 You're not making any sense with your first comment, nor are you moving the discussion forward. Pokemon GO has no impact on the franchise as a whole. It has no impact on whatever GameFreak does. In my opinion, GameFreak doesn't create any high quality games either, but the mainline games still sell an amount of copies that 95% of the business is jealous of.
@HorridCrow No, it's not moving in the direction that YOU want it to, so you're claiming it isn't. Pokémon GO absolutely impacted the franchise by bringing it to the attention of pretty much the entire world. Its success spawned the Let's Go spinoffs AND putting Raid Battles into Sword/Shield, something you seem to have conveniently forgotten despite your "doesn't affect" claim. And that's just directly. Indirectly, Pokémon GO's revenue has increased merchandising events (as we've seen via articles here and elsewhere over the past few years, compared to pre-GO) and encouraged GF/Nintendo/everyone that was on the fence before or did not want to, to take on this sickening lootbox system.
"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt."
@Crockin,
Agree with your point that why should someone who does not personally like mobile games care if somebody else plays them, I do realize some are not fine with the business model of these games, but it's a free choice at the end of the day.
As for companies working practices, this is a far bigger issue and not really relevant to the initial point you brought up, and also, you are commenting on a platform that would require you to have some form of tech that would be produced by the very production methods you are calling out.
@TDCinFL Wrong, you get free gifts daily from buddy pokemon that bring you pokeballs for free, as well as daily free gifts in the shop containing pokeballs and you defo don't need to use berries to catch pokemon, you can mostly bin them or feed your buddy.
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