Pokémon GO
GameBy Niantic Labs · Released Jul 6, 2016
Documents about Pokémon GO
Pokémon GO Ends 2016 with Its Strongest Week of U.S. Revenue Since Launch
Pokémon GO experienced a significant resurgence in U.S. revenue during the final week of 2016, marking its strongest performance since the game’s initial launch in July.
- Pokémon GO achieved its highest U.S. weekly revenue since July 2016 during the week of December 26, generating approximately $22.1 million.
- On December 31, 2016, Pokémon GO recorded its best single-day U.S. gross revenue since July 18, totaling approximately $4.9 million.
- During the final week of 2016, Pokémon GO was the No. 1 grossing app in the U.S., outperforming Supercell's Clash of Clans and Clash Royale.
Increasing Revenue 47%: Pokémon GO's Second In-Game Event
The second in-game event for Pokémon GO, held in November 2016, successfully generated a 47 percent increase in global revenue, yet failed to match the performance of the game’s inaugural Halloween event.
- Pokémon GO's November 2016 Thanksgiving event generated over $31 million in gross in-app purchases, representing a 47% revenue increase over the preceding eight-day period.
- The Thanksgiving event's performance was significantly lower than the game's inaugural Halloween event, which saw a 97% revenue increase during its run.
- Daily net revenue averaged $2.7 million during the November event, a 42% increase from the prior period, compared to the Halloween event which saw a 96% increase to an average of $4.7 million per day.
Cultures Combined: Japanese Gachas Are Sweeping F2P Mobile Games in the West
The gacha mechanic, a staple of Japanese mobile gaming since 2011, is increasingly becoming a dominant feature in Western free-to-play (F2P) mobile games.
- Gacha mechanics are increasingly prevalent in Western mobile gaming, with 58% of the top 100 grossing iOS games in the U.S. now utilizing the feature.
- The adoption of gacha mechanics in the U.S. market is accelerating, with the percentage of top 100 grossing games using five or more separate gachas rising from 12% in April 2016 to 17% by November 2016.
- Gachas are highly effective for monetization, as they are estimated to generate over half of the revenue in top-grossing Japanese mobile games and serve as a primary tool for targeting high-spending 'whale' players.
Pokémon GO's First In-Game Event Boosted Its Revenue 133%
The implementation of limited-time in-game events serves as a highly effective strategy for driving mobile game monetization, even in the absence of new content.
- Niantic's first in-game event for Pokémon GO increased worldwide in-app purchase revenue by approximately 133% over a five-day period.
- During the Halloween event (October 25–29, 2016), the game generated $23.3 million in revenue, compared to $10 million during the preceding five-day period (October 18–22).
- Average daily net revenue rose to approximately $4.6 million during the event, up from $2 million per day during the prior week.
4 More Key Features Niantic Needs to Add to Pokémon GO to Keep Us Coming Back
The primary objective is to identify specific game design features that could enhance player retention and monetization for Pokémon GO.
- Daily rewards are essential for retention, with 62% of the top 100 grossing games offering login gifts and 48% utilizing daily quests to drive regular engagement.
- Limited-time in-app purchase (IAP) offers are a critical monetization driver, appearing in 97% of top 100 grossing iOS games as of August 2016, up from 80% in November 2015.
- Competitive features like dynamic leagues and leaderboards are increasingly standard, now present in 56% of top 100 grossing iOS games compared to 43% in late 2015.
Pokémon GO Ends Its Reign as the Top Grossing U.S. iPhone App After 74 Days
Pokémon GO concluded a 74-day streak as the top-grossing iPhone application in the United States in September 2016.
- Pokémon GO ended its 74-day streak as the top-grossing U.S. iPhone app after being unseated by Supercell’s Clash Royale following a content update.
- In terms of consecutive days at the top of the U.S. iPhone grossing chart, Pokémon GO ranks third behind Clash of Clans (347 days) and Candy Crush Saga (109 days).
- Despite losing the top spot in the U.S., Pokémon GO remained the number one grossing iPhone app in eight other countries and maintained the top position on the U.S. Google Play store.
Pokémon GO: Performance Report
This analysis evaluates the commercial performance of Pokémon GO two months after its July 2016 launch, highlighting its status as a significant cultural and financial phenomenon.
- Within two months of its July 6, 2016 launch, Pokémon GO generated over $440 million in worldwide gross revenue.
- The game's financial performance surpassed the global box office earnings of major 2016 summer films like Ghostbusters, Star Trek Beyond, and Warcraft, despite minimal paid advertising.
- As of September 2016, the app maintained a consistent daily worldwide net revenue of more than $4 million.
Pokémon GO Has Passed $200 Million in Worldwide Revenue
Pokémon GO established a new benchmark for mobile gaming success by generating over $200 million in worldwide net revenue during its first 30 days of availability.
- Pokémon GO generated over $200 million in worldwide net revenue across the App Store and Google Play during its first 30 days of availability.
- The game significantly outperformed other major mobile launches, earning more than seven times the first-month revenue of King’s 2014 hit, Candy Crush Soda Saga.
- Pokémon GO surpassed the first-month revenue performance of Supercell’s Clash Royale, which was previously considered a top-tier mobile revenue generator.
Pokémon GO Passes $160 Million Worldwide Revenue, Usage Remains Strong
This analysis examines the financial and engagement performance of the mobile game Pokémon GO during its first month of release in July 2016.
- Pokémon GO generated over $160 million in worldwide net revenue across the App Store and Google Play within its first month of release, despite being available in less than half of all potential global regions.
- User engagement remains high despite a widely criticized July 30, 2016, update, with average daily usage for U.S. iOS users actually increasing slightly to approximately 26 minutes post-update.
- The frequency of app usage has remained stable, with users opening the application an average of six times per day both before and after the controversial update.
Pokémon GO Review Analysis Reveals Players' Most-Wanted Features
This analysis examines user sentiment and feature requests for the mobile game Pokémon GO during its initial three-week launch period in the United States in July 2016.
- As of July 2016, Pokémon GO set mobile industry records as the fastest app to reach 50 million downloads and the fastest to reach top-grossing status in U.S. App Store history.
- Approximately 13% of all user reviews (10,657 total) contained specific feature requests, indicating a high demand for expanded gameplay functionality.
- The most requested feature, cited in 372 reviews, is the implementation of real-time, direct player-versus-player (PvP) battles.
Pokémon GO Hit 50 Million Downloads in Record Time, Now at More Than 75 Million Worldwide
Pokémon GO achieved unprecedented growth in the mobile gaming sector during July 2016, setting a new record for the fastest title to reach 50 million worldwide downloads.
- Pokémon GO reached 50 million worldwide downloads in just 19 days, setting a record as the fastest mobile game to hit that milestone on both iOS and Android.
- As of July 2016, the game has surpassed 75 million total global installs across Apple and Google platforms.
- The game achieved this growth while being available in only 32 of the more than 100 available App Store and Google Play markets.
Pokémon GO Isn't a Mobile Data Hog—and This Data Proves It
The analysis evaluates claims regarding the mobile data consumption of the game Pokémon GO, specifically addressing concerns that the application places an undue burden on user data plans.
- Pokémon GO consumes an average of 5.2 MB of mobile data per day, significantly less than Facebook, which averages 19 MB per day.
- On an hourly basis, Pokémon GO uses approximately 16 MB of data, compared to 52 MB per hour for Facebook.
- An average player spending 33 minutes in the app daily will consume roughly 250 MB of mobile data per month if playing exclusively off Wi-Fi.
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