It’s been a few years sincePokemon GOfirst released andcreated a global phenomenonand the fact that the initial craze is long gone hasn’t made the game a failure in any sense. The mobile AR game still has a massive player base and 2019 saw the game bringing in a crazy amount of profits from microtransactions and event purchases.
Pokemon GOmay be a free-to-play game, but there is plenty of reason for users to spend money in the app. At first it may seem likePokemon GOintends to make money by selling Pokeballs and other essential catching items, but the real spending temptations come later in the form ofPremium Raid Passesand other items that make it easier to participate in special events that involve limited-time Legendary Battle Raids.
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During 2019,Pokemon GOapparently made $1.4 billion dollars. That’s a ton of money for a game that technically doesn’t require its players to spend anything. The data comes from SuperData’s 2019 year in review report. Pokemon GO once again made it to the top of the list withCandy Crush Saga and the other most profitable mobile gamesin app stores.
Pokemon GOended up in sixth place on the SuperData list of most profitable free-to-play games behind some more popular titles likeCandy Crush Saga, League of Legends, andHonour of Kings. It likely doesn’t come as much of a surprise thatFortnitetopped the list at $1.88 billion.
It is interesting to take into consideration that 2019 was the first yearPokemon GOhosted a global event Special Research event that actually had a monetary entry fee.The Colossal Research eventseemed like a major success and plenty of players were willing to cough up the eight dollars to participate in the limited-time event and Raid with the rest of the community. It will be very interesting to see if Niantic introduces similar events in 2020 to attempt to drive profits up even higher.
Be sure to check back for morePokemon GOnews, updates, and strategy guides in the coming days. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GOis available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices.
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