Pokémon Go turns 4 today and, while it might not be the shiny new toy of the App Store anymore, it’s not showing signs of slowing down, either.
The AR Poké-spotting game just passed $3.6 billion in global player spending, according to leading app analytics platform Sensor Tower. Of that, almost $1.7 billion — or 46.4% of the total revenue — came from the App Store.
Pokémon Go has been downloaded and installed 125.4 million times on iOS since its launch on July 6, 2016. That’s 21.7% of the total installs, with the remainder being via the Google Play store.
The report notes that the United States is the biggest market for Niantic’s Pokémon Go, representing $1.3 billion — or 35.4% — of player spending. Japan comes in second place, followed by Germany.
Four years on, Pokémon Go continues to rule
Pokémon Go hit its heyday in 2016 when it came to mainstream coverage. But the game had some impressively long legs. According to previous data from Sensor Tower, Pokémon Go raked in $894 million in player spending last year. That’s actually more than it made in 2016, 2017 or 2018.
The trend doesn’t look set to change, either. Today’s report notes that so far this year, the game has already generated $445.3 million. That puts it “on course to match or even exceed the record spending it saw” in 2019.
To help the game continue to thrive, Niantic added more play-at-home functionality to keep people hooked during lockdown. However, at heart, Pokémon Go is designed for playing outside. As more places come out of COVID-19 lockdown, it seems reasonable that the game could experience a “surge in revenue” as players return to the streets.
If you’re one of the few folks not to have tried this AR phenomenon, you can download Pokémon Go for free via the App Store.
Have you played Pokémon Go? Is it continuing to hold your attention four years after its release? Let us know in the comments below.
