Pokémon Go, the AR game based on the anime Pokémon, developed by Niantic and launched in the year 2016, is a freely available smartphone game. It has over 100M+ downloads in both Apple Appstore and Google Playstore. But do you know that Pokémon Go has generated a revenue of over $3.1 billion as of 2019? The game made about 38% of its revenue from the US and about 32% from Japan. But the question is how does Pokémon Go make so much money?
Instead of real money, an in-game currency called Pokécoin is used to buy items like incense, lures, potions, pokéballs, costumes, etc. from the shop. Real money can be exchanged for Pokécoins in the shop. The other and free way of getting pokécoins without spending money is somewhat tricky and slow. For every 10 minutes your pokémon stays in a pokégym, you get 1 Pokécoin and you can get a maximum of 50 Pokécoins per day. This way of getting Pokécoins is very much time-taking as it takes 500 mins, that is, more than 8 hours to get a total of 50 coins and in the meantime, if any other trainer knocks out your pokémon, you will get coins only for the time your Pokémon has stayed in the gym. Frustrating, isn't it?
They created this inconvenience or pain point intentionally to convert players to payers and some trainers actually do spend money to get rid of the inconvenience.
But convincing players is not that easy. The developers must make the game addictive and challenging, ensuring that no player leaves the game. But in the end, only a few players become payers and only a few payers become assets that pay regularly.
Moreover, they also add exclusive events accessible only by paying a certain amount of money. These also help to convert players into payers.
For example, The Pokémon Genesect could be caught in Pokémon Go by purchasing a ticket to the special research for $7.99. Though it was added to ex-raids later on, getting an ex-raid is also difficult and rare. So trainers have to pay $7.99 to catch Genesect.
The non-paying players are also helpful. They provide feedback and help in improving the app which indirectly helps them generate more revenue. The monetization in Pokémon Go is, as of now, optional. In other words, players can proceed in the game without even spending a single penny.
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| How Pokemon Go earns money |
How Pokémon Go earns money?
Pokémon Go works on the Freemium (Free + Premium) business model. In other words, it has some in-game items which can be purchased using real-life money. This is the primary way in which Pokémon Go earns money.Money through In-app purchases:
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| In-app purchases in Pokémon Go |
Instead of real money, an in-game currency called Pokécoin is used to buy items like incense, lures, potions, pokéballs, costumes, etc. from the shop. Real money can be exchanged for Pokécoins in the shop. The other and free way of getting pokécoins without spending money is somewhat tricky and slow. For every 10 minutes your pokémon stays in a pokégym, you get 1 Pokécoin and you can get a maximum of 50 Pokécoins per day. This way of getting Pokécoins is very much time-taking as it takes 500 mins, that is, more than 8 hours to get a total of 50 coins and in the meantime, if any other trainer knocks out your pokémon, you will get coins only for the time your Pokémon has stayed in the gym. Frustrating, isn't it?
They created this inconvenience or pain point intentionally to convert players to payers and some trainers actually do spend money to get rid of the inconvenience.
But convincing players is not that easy. The developers must make the game addictive and challenging, ensuring that no player leaves the game. But in the end, only a few players become payers and only a few payers become assets that pay regularly.
Moreover, they also add exclusive events accessible only by paying a certain amount of money. These also help to convert players into payers.
For example, The Pokémon Genesect could be caught in Pokémon Go by purchasing a ticket to the special research for $7.99. Though it was added to ex-raids later on, getting an ex-raid is also difficult and rare. So trainers have to pay $7.99 to catch Genesect.
Money through Ads driven revenues:
Pokémon Go also makes money by sponsorships. While playing the game, you might have found some sponsored pokéstops or pokégyms in a certain location like McDonald's. It has been estimated that there are about 35,000 sponsored pokéstops and pokégyms globally. As per an article on Forbes, Pokémon Go charges $0.50 for every spin at the pokéstop or pokégym. Thus Pokémon Go generates a huge amount of money from sponsorships. |
| Sponsored pokéstops in Pokémon Go |
The non-paying players are also helpful. They provide feedback and help in improving the app which indirectly helps them generate more revenue. The monetization in Pokémon Go is, as of now, optional. In other words, players can proceed in the game without even spending a single penny.
Why monetization is important?
The game is ultimately developed for the purpose of making money. The biggest reason in the favor of monetization is that they give the company the reason for providing updates and adding more features to the game.
For example, recently the Go Battle feature was added to Pokémon Go and it was a huge success. It made the game more engaging, challenging and rewarding.
With over 160 million monthly active users across the globe, Pokémon Go generates a huge amount of money through them. Here are some facts and figures:
1. Within a week of the release of Pokémon Go, the share price of Nintendo grew by up to 50%.
2. Within a week of the release of Pokémon Go, market value increased by $9 billion.
3. Until 2019, the company earned a total revenue of $3 billion.
4. Pokémon Go generated $894 million only in the year 2019.
Considering the above facts and figures, it can easily be said that Pokémon Go is a highly profitable game with new players joining every day.
Now if you are curious about how games like Pubg earn money you may click here or if you are frustrated why your game is lagging too much you may find the answer here.
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| Go Battle in Pokémon Go |
How much Pokémon Go earns?
With over 160 million monthly active users across the globe, Pokémon Go generates a huge amount of money through them. Here are some facts and figures:
1. Within a week of the release of Pokémon Go, the share price of Nintendo grew by up to 50%.
2. Within a week of the release of Pokémon Go, market value increased by $9 billion.
3. Until 2019, the company earned a total revenue of $3 billion.
4. Pokémon Go generated $894 million only in the year 2019.
Considering the above facts and figures, it can easily be said that Pokémon Go is a highly profitable game with new players joining every day.
Now if you are curious about how games like Pubg earn money you may click here or if you are frustrated why your game is lagging too much you may find the answer here.
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