Pokemon GO reaches $8 billion in user spending

The augmented reality (AR) title Pokémon GO has reached $8 billion in user spending, marking a new milestone for Niantic.

According to a report shared by mobile analyst AppMagic, Pokémon GO has generated large revenue streams over the past eight years.

Image credits: AppMagic

AppMagic’s analysis noted that the game’s net revenue in 2023 was equal to $567 million, down 13% from 2022. Although the game’s two most notable monthly revenue peaks of $136 million in August 2016 and $117 cannot repeat. M in August 2020, it is still generating large numbers of revenues: $44 million in March 2024.

There are several factors that contribute to this Pokémon GO‘s consistently high merits, including the sense of nostalgia, belonging, hoarding instincts, breadcrumb effects and more, as pointed out by AppMagic.

Looking at Niantic’s portfolio, the company has published 19 mobile apps, 12 of which are games, and only 3 can be labeled as successful – all of which happen to be AR location-based titles. Despite a recent release, Monster hunter now has generated $164 million in gross revenue, while Pikmin Bloom earned $44 million during its lifetime.

Image credits: AppMagic

When it comes to AR games, Niantic is still at the top, with no game even coming close to winning Pokémon GO‘s success.

Square Enix Dragon Quest walk was a contender at one point, but as of today it only earns about a third of that Pokémon GO. Naturally, Dragon Quest walk is only available in Japan.

A game to emphasize is Jurassic World is alivewhich was released back in 2018 and hasn’t shown any significant spikes since then, but still managed to generate a total of almost $180 million in gross revenue.

Image credits: AppMagic

Market dynamics for AR games

Overall, the AR games market can be estimated at nearly $12 billion in gross revenue. In recent years, AR games have hovered around $1.5 billion in gross revenue per year.

Image credits: AppMagic

AppMagic also noted, among other things, that AR games are reluctant to accept new players. Despite more than 100 new releases since April 2022, only a few have secured significant income. And that is Monster hunter now grossing $164 million and Nobunaga’s Ambition (信長の野望出陣) of which the $21 million was made entirely in Japan.

Image credits: AppMagic

From the analysis, you can see that despite more than 8 years on the market, Pokemon GO is still going strong, with many factors such as social and physiological effects keeping players engaged. While Pokemon GO has been successful, AppMagic noted that the genre has stagnated in recent years, with not many new releases reaching a benchmark that can be confidently described as successful.

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