It's now been two years since Pokémon Go launched on iOS, becoming immensely popular with players across iOS and Android in the months that followed its debut. Although the number of players in the game has lessened since then, Pokémon Go has remained consistently popular among its fans, and this week Sensor Tower reports that it's seen a "resurgence" this summer thanks to the long-awaited Pokémon trading update.
That update came this past June, allowing players to trade Pokémon with nearby friends -- a feature that took the company two years to implement because it "wanted to make sure" the mechanic was done right, according to Niantic software engineer Kiersten Koa.
Now, Sensor Tower says that Pokémon Go players have spent an average of $2.5 million per day in the game since the June 19 update. In the 60 days leading to the update, players worldwide were spending about $1.8 million per day in the app. This means that the trading update has increased Pokémon Go's daily revenue by $700,000 per day, representing a 39 percent increase.
Sensor Tower points out that this daily spending "hasn't been seen since its summer 2016 launch."
Niantic’s Pokémon GO has never stopped being popular, but it’s definitely had its share of peaks and valleys when it comes to player spending. Right now, it’s in the midst of a resurgence the likes of which hasn’t been seen since its summer 2016 launch, and the game’s most fevered spending has come in the wake of June’s big friends and trading update.
Next, Sensor Tower says it's looking to see how the change of seasons will affect the game, since its revenue tends to peak during the summer months as more players venture outside to play the game. Still, another major update is scheduled to arrive before the end of 2018, enabling a player-versus-player mode, which should again "propel player spending back to the levels seen at the game's launch."
Although not part of Nintendo's mobile gaming initiative with developer partners like DeNA and Cygames, Nintendo does have a stake in Pokémon Go's success since it owns part of The Pokémon Company. The next main Nintendo game to see a smartphone launch will be Dragalia Lost, which was just announced to have a debut on September 27.
Top Rated Comments
If they would just make the settings work so that I could turn off in game notifications, it would be great.
I've been playing almost since the beginning, initially because of my sons, but I've found it a great motivation to get out and about at lunchtime. I've spent very little real cash in 2 years, and honestly I'm amazed they are making $2.5m/day! There's very little need to spend real dollars if you're consistent about gathering in-game coins and not spending them unwisely (ie on costumes etc).
Oh and the "seasonal" comment in the original story doesn't take into account large chunks of the earth that either a) don't really have seasons (eg Singapore, etc), or b) are in the southern hemisphere (seasons reversed - shock/horror!). There's a whole world outside the US..