Pokémon GO’s in-app sales revenue hit $1 billion in 2020 and $4 billion in lifetime earnings

Pokémon GO, a popular AR mobile game, by Niantic has done remarkably well in 2020. According to a recent survey by Sensor Tower Store Intelligence, the app has already generated $1 billion in revenue this year. With an 11 percent increase from the previous year, Pokémon GO sales have continued to grow for the third consecutive year.

Pokémon GO earned $832 million in 2016, its launch year, but experience a mild dip in revenue in 2017 with $589 million. However, since then the app’s earnings have grown every year: $828 million in 2018, $902 million in 2019, and $1 billion up to November 1, 2020.

Sensor Tower Store Intelligence is a digital app store data provider that uses algorithms and data points power Store Intelligence to deliver insight of App Store and Google Play. It provides web-based analysis of downloads and revenue estimates for apps, publishers and major categories and countries. Therefore, based on the reported revenue estimation, it is likely that Pokémon GO’s earnings will cross $1 billion by the end of 2020.

Pokemon Go

Pokémon GO revenues hit $1 billion in 2020

Including a billion dollars earning in 2020’s earnings, Pokémon GO has hit lifetime revenue of $4 billion worldwide. Here are the region and platform wise lifetime earnings in sales and installations.

Revenue per region

  1. United States – $1.5 billion (36.6% of total sales)
  2. Japan – $1.3 billion (31.3% total sales)
  3. Germany – $238.6 million (5.7% of total sales)

Revenue per platform

  • Google Play – $2.2 billion (53.4% of total spending)
  • App Store – $1.9 billion (46.6% of total spending)

Installs per region

  1. The United States – 109 million (18.2 % of total)
  2. Brazil – 65.2 million (11% of total)
  3. Mexico – 37.7 million (6.2% of total)

Installs per platform

  • Google Play – 466 million (78% of total)
  • App Store – 132 million (22 % of total)

Pokemon Go

Based on the current sales, Pokémon GO ranks no. 3 in mobile gaming apps globally, behind PUBG mobile at number 1 and Honor of Kings in number two spots, in spite of the COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing precautionary measures which restrict the app’s gameplay. This success is accredited to Niantic’s introduction of innovative features and online events this year which allowed users to enjoy hunting for Pokémon, fighting battles, and much more even in prevailing health restrictions like new Play at Home update, Pokemon Go Battle league season 2, bonus field Research tasks, push notifications, PokeCoin system, Throwback challenge, Community day voting, virtual Pokémon GO Fest 2020 and more.

Pokemon Go

Sensor Tower writes:

The fact that it’s also the No. 3 mobile game by player spending so far this year is evidence of the power of consistent updates, engaging events, keeping an eye on factors that could affect game performance, and acting quickly to stay at the top. In some ways, Pokémon GO shouldn’t have succeeded in 2020, but its resilience should be a lesson to all developers in the space.

Pokémon GO is available on iOS and Android for free and can be download from the App Store and Google Play, respectively.

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Addicted to social media and in love with iPhone, started blogging as a hobby. And now it's my passion for every day is a new learning experience. Hopefully, manufacturers will continue to use innovative solutions and we will keep on letting you know about them.