Pokemon GO took the world by storm when it first launched in 2016 for mobile devices, paving the way for what’s turned out to be a gold rush for companies in the mobile gaming space, and though there was a brief period some time after the game’s launch where it looked like its popularity was waning, it quickly recovered and continued to move from strength to strength.
And it’s crossed a pretty major landmark as far as commercial performance goes as well. As per a new report by Sensor Tower, Pokemon GO has raked in over $5 billion in revenue since it launched in 2016, which is up from $2.5 billion a couple of years ago- which should tell you something about the growth it has been enjoying.
The game has generated $1 billion on average each year, and in the first half of 2021, brought in $641.6 million in revenue- which, incidentally, is its best ever start to a year, and up 34% from 2020’s first half (and a whopping 130% from 2017’s first half). The United States remains the game’s most successful nation, followed by Japan, and then Germany.
Pokemon GO enjoyed its best year ever in 2019, and then again in 2020. That growth would have been impressive to see in any situation, but considering the COVID pandemic, it becomes even more so, especially given the very nature of the game (though the developers did make smart alterations to ensure that it wouldn’t be impacted).