Who ever doubted the staying power of Pokémon Go was made to eat their heart out yesterday after its 2016 earnings were published for all to see. This massive “free to play” game made an estimated $950 million in 2016. Yes, you read that correctly; almost a billion dollars was made on this game in its first year.
Think about that; this free to play game made took a little over a hundred days to reach $800 million. That is truly insane. This Niantic made title was their first game to reach $600 million and clearly it will be its first to reach the $1 billion mark later this year. These profits are expected to increase as Pokémon Go expands to other markets (it only reached India a month ago).
Pokémon Go took two months to reach 500 million downloads since it launched in early July, 2016. App Annie believes that the game’s appeal to non-gamers took it too new heights, but the Pokémon franchise and the social aspects of the game were also big factors.
As long as Niantic continues to update the game in a timely manner and add appropriate holiday events to rekindle interest, Pokémon Go will continue to bring in mass fan appeal and attention.
