Although Pokemon is 24 years old, the gaming franchise is more popular than ever. While Pokemon GO has brought in new fans, Pokemon Sword and Shield also deserves some credit as the latest game in the Pokemon series. According to new reports, profits seem to reflect the series' recent resurgence in popularity.
Recently, The Pokemon Company released details on its net profits over the last fiscal year. According to the Japanese publication Gamebiz, the Pokemon developer is celebrating its second most profitable year ever. Daniel Ahmad, a senior analyst at the Japanese video game data firm Niko Partners, also took to Twitter to share his analysis.
According to the Gamebiz figures, The Pokemon Company recorded 15.3 billion yen in net profits. In American dollars, the developer earned $143 million USD. This report covers the 2019-2020 fiscal year, which ended this February. In his tweet, Ahmad noted that this year's profit is a 14.8% increase from 2019. The analyst also credited Pokemon GO's continued success for these figures. The Pokemon Company enjoyed its most profitable year in the 2016-2017 fiscal year, when the mobile app first came out, but this year's income was also supplemented by Pokemon Sword and Shield.
In the Twitter responses, many users did not celebrate The Pokemon Company's success. Several responses asked the developer to spend its earnings on making the next generation of Pokemon more appealing to hardcore fans. Others said that for the amount of revenue the franchise made, the quality of the games was too low. However, others defended The Pokemon Company. They reminded readers that these profits not only funded the games, but also TV shows, trading cards and other adaptations. For example, the developer is also funding the upcoming Pokemon board game. Ultimately, considering the record profits from this past fiscal year, it's more likely that The Pokemon Company has no problems with the quality of its games.
From looking at these latest figures, Pokemon fans clearly have a lot to look forward to. The Pokemon Company is still adding to both Pokemon GO and Pokemon Sword and Shield. And with its current funding, the Pokemon franchise will continue catering for fans for years to come.
Pokemon Sword and Shield are available now for Nintendo Switch.
Source: Gamebiz