Pokémon Go is having its most lucrative year yet
$1bn payday for 2020 so far.
2020 is Pokémon Go's most lucrative year yet, with more than $1bn in player spending notched up over its first 10 months alone.
That's according to data from Sensor Tower, which tracks mobile spending across the iOS App Store and Google Play.
This year's revenues are already up 11 per cent on 2019 with two months still to go, and up 30 per cent when comparing this year's first 10 months alone.
Pokémon Go has now earned around $4.2bn since its stratospheric launch back in 2016, but has never notched up $1bn in a single year before.
After its enormous launch, revenues plummeted in 2017, only to recover strongly and continue growing every year since.
Since launch, Pokémon Go has grown steadily more rich in features - but also ways to spend money in game. And even in 2020, and perhaps because of 2020, Pokémon Go has seen its revenues rise once again.
Not only was 2020 the first year Pokémon Go offered a virtual ticket to its headline Go Fest events, it made them global, so anyone could attend. This summer, millions paid up around £15 each to catch rare virtual creatures in their local area (and Niantic promised its proceeds would go to Black Lives Matter causes).
An even bigger change this year was the introduction of remote raiding, and specifically the addition to the in-game shop of Remote Raid Passes. These let you battle bosses together with friends at a local gym, or be invited by someone you know to a raid further afield. The addition has been hugely successful, and is now the primary way many people play the game.
And all of that is on top of Pokémon Go's constant events, feature updates and other additions to tempt your wallet open, such as new avatar cosmetics, optional Community Day research tickets, and items to speed up the game's buddy and Team Rocket gameplay loops.
