Pokémon GO is a game where you battle and capture pokémon by utilizing your smartphone’s GPS and traveling in the real world. However, according to a recent survey, Pokémon GO users have spent over $250 million on the addictive game. With many people saying that it will reach $1 billion in sales.
It is estimated that 1 in 5 people who play Pokémon GO actually have spent money on various items in the game, with 11 million users who spend money on the game in the US and UK. According to YouGov, it has gained over $268 million off of in-game items in the past 5 weeks, over 1 million people in the UK alone have spend money to play the game in the first month of its release, with most people paying over 80 pounds. 29 percent of Americans and 20 percent of Germans have spent money on the game, and 9 percent of the German fans, (roughly 140,000 people) have spent over 100 euros.
YouGov also states that 13 percent of the adults across the three countries have actually downloaded the game, and over 90 percent have have continued to play the game after launch.
“Research is showing us that the spend levels in just 5 weeks in three countries is over a quarter of a billion dollars.” Says Stephen Harmston, the leader of YouGov research reports. “And soon the game will be available to 72 countries, then we’ll start to see how quickly this will be a $1 billion dollar run rate game.” He adds.
If you don’t think this is much, then compare it to other really big mobile games such as Clash Royale, or even Candy Crush. According to app analyst Sensor Tower, Supercell have grossed over $125 million from Clash Royale, and King have gained $25 million from Candy Crush Soda Saga. Both of which are less than half of Pokémon GO’s sales.
Niantic is heavily showing how in-app purchases can make a huge difference in sales, and they are still making over millions of downloads and in-app purchases per day off of Pokémon GO.
