It’s been a few years since Pokemon GO first released and created a global phenomenon and 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 GO may 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 like Pokemon GO intends to make money by selling Pokeballs and other essential catching items, but the real spending temptations come later in the form of Premium Raid Passes and other items that make it easier to participate in special events that involve limited-time Legendary Battle Raids.
During 2019, Pokemon GO apparently 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 with Candy Crush Saga and the other most profitable mobile games in app stores.
Pokemon GO ended up in sixth place on the SuperData list of most profitable free-to-play games behind some more popular titles like Candy Crush Saga, League of Legends, and Honour of Kings. It likely doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Fortnite topped the list at $1.88 billion.
It is interesting to take into consideration that 2019 was the first year Pokemon GO hosted a global event Special Research event that actually had a monetary entry fee. The Colossal Research event seemed 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 more Pokemon GO news, updates, and strategy guides in the coming days. Until then, good luck out there, trainers!
Pokemon GO is available now in select regions on Android and iOS devices.
Source: Pokemon GO Hub
