Pokemon GO Has Made $200 Million in a Month

Game Rant

By GR Staff

Published Aug 8, 2016

Pokemon GO smashes app sales records earning $200 million in revenue worldwide in its first month of release, beating out Candy Crush and Clash of Clans.

Pokemon GO smashes app sales records earning $200 million in revenue worldwide in its first month of release beating out Candy Crush and Clash of Clans.

Pokemon GO has had a bit of trouble the last few weeks - the latest update to the game was riddled with bugs, and removed popular features, while the developer’s CEO had his twitter account hacked by hacking group Our Mine. This, in conjunction with almost daily reports of Pokemon GO players doing things like threatening other players for lures, or failing to provide care for their children, doesn’t help with public perception about the game.

In spite of this bad press, the Pokemon GO craze is showing no signs of slowing; a few weeks ago it was reported that the app had been downloaded an estimated 75 million times since its release as well as earning $160 million according to an app analytics company, Sensor Tower. Well today, Sensor Tower released a new report, putting Pokemon GO’s worldwide revenue at $200 million in the first month of its release.

This amount absolutely crushes app juggernauts such as Candy Crush and Clash of Clans, who only earned around $25 million and $125 million respectively during their first month of operation. The report also states that daily usage for the app remains high at an average of 26 minutes a day, which seems to suggest that the app has staying power with its users.

The success of Pokemon GO isn’t just good news for Nintendo and developer Niantic; the augmented reality game has many companies, such as Gamestop and manufacturers of battery packs, seeing a huge boost in sales. The game has also led to the invention of some new business opportunities for enterprising individuals, like the creation of a Pokemon GO dating service and driving services to transport Pokemon trainers to Pokestops.

At this point, it is undeniable that Pokemon GO has been a huge success financially, but one has to wonder if it’s success will be short-lived. Reports that the company has done little to address certain types of third-party apps that give users gamebreaking advantages may soon have players abandoning the the app. Also, there are rumors of similar augmented reality games, such as a potential Harry Potter variant, which may cause players to flee in huge numbers once these new game arrives. However since Niantic would be developing that game as well, this probably isn’t a huge concern for them.

Does Pokemon GO have staying power? Or is it just the flavor of the month.