At the height of its popularity, Pokémon Go was inescapable. Every facet of daily life, whether it was the commute to work, lunch break, the school playground or just about any public space imaginable, Pokéfever had all but achieved global domination in the summer of 2016. As is the natural lifecycle of all crazes, of course, the months (and now years) that followed the launch of Niantic’s mobile game marked an expected, but drastic, nonetheless, drop in daily users.
Many of those abandoning the quest to Catch ‘Em All simply had their fill of nostalgia and moved on while other, more dedicated Trainers stayed the course, eager to see how Pokémon Go would grow in the future and beyond. Clearly struggling to keep up with the unforeseen success, Niantic failed to deliver on key features such as trading and battles in a timely manner, a shortcoming that ultimately led to further decline.
Three years on, what’s changed? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Having settled into a neat rhythm when it comes to deploying new features, bespoke content and events for current players to sink their teeth into, Niantic has taken good care of Pokémon Go‘s still millions-strong player base and those efforts have clearly paid off.
As per SuperData’s latest report providing a monthly breakdown of the industry’s top-grossing games, Pokémon Go came out the clear winner on mobile, having generated an eye-watering $176 million in August. Even more impressive, however, is that the figure represents the highest monthly revenue recorded for the app since its peak back in 2016. The extraordinary performance, notes SuperData, was likely driven by a slew of in-game events over the summer that enticed lapsed players back into the fold.
In fact, the latest in a long line of limited-time events, a rematch with the mythical Giratina, just went live yesterday. See here for all the details.
Published: Sep 24, 2019 11:39 am