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Pokémon GO: fastest game ever to No. 1 on the mobile revenue charts; 5M on iOS

maxcriden

Member
I'm sure y'all are probably sick of Pokémon Go news. But still, seemed noteworthy, so:

- fastest mobile game ever to reach No. 1 in terms of revenues on iOS and Android
- reached that position on the charts in the less than a day on iOS and just four days on Android
- previous record holder was Clash Royale, which took two days on iOS and seven days on Google Play to reach No. 1

“Even though Pokémon Go is only officially open in three countries, the game is generating well over $1 million of net revenue for Niantic Labs. I can easily envision a run-rate of over $1 billion per year with less server issues, a worldwide presence, and more social and player-vs.-player features.” - App Annie communications boss Fabien Pierre-Nicolas

“The Pokémon brand ensures tens of millions of downloads regardless of the game concept. It is one of the biggest gaming and entertainment franchises on the planet. What has been a surprise for Pokémon Go is the several millions of dollars it’s managed to generate in the first few days alone. This is obviously great news for Nintendo as seen by its recent $10 billion market cap jump. My one worry with the game is its longevity as the freshness of the concept wears off and is copied by competitors.” - Newzoo founder and analyst Peter Warman

A couple other new analyst quotes, including from Serkan Toto:

Coming from SuperData Research analyst and chief executive Joost van Dreunen...

“Pokémon Go doing so well initially should not be a surprise: It is one of the most enduring and widely popular game franchises in the world. It has produced no fewer than 18 full feature films, a cartoon series, trading card games, and a slew of swag. More so, even though Pokémon is operated independently, it is part of the Nintendo empire, which saw a similar consumer response with Miitomi. You cannot underestimate the strength of this Japanese giant and its assets, even if contenders have emerged in the last few years.

The initial audience response is more telling of the increasingly lethargic mobile games market. With its growth slowing, it takes an established franchise like Pokémon for the numbers to suddenly, and likely briefly, flutter before reestablishing its previous equilibrium. “What will be critical is the coming period. Can Pokémon Go keep its momentum and cultivate a loyal following. Just like every other mobile game, it will have to face the retention figures after 7, 30, and 90 days.”

Coming from industry analyst Serkan Toto

"Nintendo probably can’t believe their eyes. This is unprecedented. I seriously think Nintendo doesn’t really care about mobile at the moment. I have been saying this for one and half years now,” he said. “Nintendo will make billions of dollars every year on mobile eventually.”

Pokémon Go is making $1.6 million every day from iOS devices in the United States alone, Things are likely to go even more crazy when the game launches elsewhere around the world.

Sources:

http://venturebeat.com/2016/07/11/p...me-ever-to-no-1-on-the-mobile-revenue-charts/

http://venturebeat.com/2016/07/11/p...unprecedented-and-show-nintendos-brand-power/

Via: GoNintendo.com

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dodo.png


The official Pokemon GO page on the Google Play store reveals that the game has been downloaded somewhere inbetween 5 and 10 million times. We don't know if Niantic, Pokemon Co. or Nintendo will put out a press release on how many downloads there have been, so we'll just have to go with this store estimate for now. Either way, it's a super impressive number!

Source: GoNintendo.com
 

KingBroly

Banned
Glad they are making money. Maybe now they can fix their servers.

The Servers crashing probably had more to do with them releasing it unsuspectingly onto the public, only for the public to realize it was out, and them not realizing it still blew up. And it's not even out in Japan yet.
 

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
Still hasn't launched in India and China. Desperately waiting to download and check it out.

One thing's for certain though, Mobile is good for Nintendo.
 
On the one hand, they could really capitalise on this and develop proper PvP Pokemon battles, which would be INCREDIBLE.

On the other hand, that would severely damage the attractiveness of the 3DS/successor and the mainline Pokemon entries.

And yet, for the first time in a long time, I think we can genuinely say that Nintendo would be leaving a fuckload of money on the table if they didn't do the former. I guess it just remains to be seen how they view that possibility.
 

Z3M0G

Member
I don't know why they are worried about some future game copying the idea and their thunder... this isn't a new thing, it just never had the "Pokemon" name on it before... and neither will any future copycat.
 

The Lamp

Member
On the one hand, they could really capitalise on this and develop proper PvP Pokemon battles, which would be INCREDIBLE.

On the other hand, that would severely damage the attractiveness of the 3DS/successor and the mainline Pokemon entries.

And yet, for the first time in a long time, I think we can genuinely say that Nintendo would be leaving a fuckload of money on the table if they didn't do the former. I guess it just remains to be seen how they view that possibility.

They will probably eventually transition away from dedicated handhelds and toward having full-fledged mobile device releases. And I'm going to go to the mall and see shit tons of Millennials battling each other like kids used to do with their gameboys in 1998. Nintendo wouldn't have to worry about people owning the hardware because everyone owns a phone.

They've got a gold mine sitting here and it's amusing it took them this long to see it. It's also amusing the mercy they have received for such a currently half-baked concept. They should capitalize on that mercy and go all in with features and servers and a bigger budget.
 

Tobor

Member
I don't know why they are worried about some future game copying the idea and their thunder... this isn't a new thing, it just never had the "Pokemon" name on it before... and neither will any future copycat.

It's more than just copying the game. Niantic crowd sourced the locations for years with Ingress. That's a huge database that will be difficult to mimic.
 
No idea why this particular game is so popular. I think I had more fun looking at the download bar than when I actually played the game.
 

KingBroly

Banned
They will probably eventually transition away from dedicated handhelds and toward having full-fledged mobile device releases. And I'm going to go to the mall and see shit tons of Millennials battling each other like kids used to do with their gameboys in 1998. Nintendo wouldn't have to worry about people owning the hardware because everyone owns a phone.

They've got a gold mine sitting here and it's amusing it took them this long to see it. It's also amusing the mercy they have received for such a currently half-baked concept. They should capitalize on that mercy and go all in with features and servers and a bigger budget.

I don't think this has the depth that the handheld games have for battling to be a thing, at least in any serious or fun manner. It's just 'Gotta Catch Em All' in Real life.
 
They will probably eventually transition away from dedicated handhelds and toward having full-fledged mobile device releases. And I'm going to go to the mall and see shit tons of Millennials battling each other like kids used to do with their gameboys in 1998. Nintendo wouldn't have to worry about people owning the hardware because everyone owns a phone.

They've got a gold mine sitting here and it's amusing it took them this long to see it. It's also amusing the mercy they have received for such a currently half-baked concept. They should capitalize on that mercy and go all in with features and servers and a bigger budget.
Yeah, I truly believe this could be a moment for Pokemon and Nintendo. It's already going well but that will quickly evaporate if they don't capitalise on it. I hope they do.
I don't think this has the depth that the handheld games have for battling to be a thing, at least in any serious or fun manner. It's just 'Gotta Catch Em All' in Real life.
But it could have that depth, if they added it over time. Imagine being able to go to a lure on the map and then having proper Pokemon battles with someone you've just met, getting some Pokecoins in exchange, and then establishing a rivalry or something. It could be so cool.
 

Tobor

Member
I don't think this has the depth that the handheld games have for battling to be a thing, at least in any serious or fun manner. It's just 'Gotta Catch Em All' in Real life.

Battling is already a thing. The gyms near me change hands all day long.
 

The Lamp

Member
I don't think this has the depth that the handheld games have for battling to be a thing, at least in any serious or fun manner. It's just 'Gotta Catch Em All' in Real life.

It doesn't. But if Nintendo is smart about money (and sometimes they're not), they would see this as an opportunity to eventually transition deeper Pokemon experiences to mobile instead of increasingly declining dedicated handheld hardware sales. Everyone owns a phone. The reasons people are playing this are because it's free and old Milennials don't have to buy a 3DS to play this.
 

T.O.P

Banned
Well deserved (spotty servers aside)

Game is a blast to play, my cardio and social skills both got a huge boost in the last week :)
 

KingBroly

Banned
Battling is already a thing. The gyms near me change hands all day long.

It's still not very fun, and right now the Gyms system is broken. Even if they get it fixed, it's going to get a point where newer players can't beat a Gym. Heck, I'd say it's that way right now in some places.
 

Tobor

Member
It's still not very fun, and right now the Gyms system is broken. Even if they get it fixed, it's going to get a point where newer players can't beat a Gym. Heck, I'd say it's that way right now in some places.

Oh, no doubt it needs work. I'm just saying it's proving a popular aspect of the game, broken as it is.
 

maxcriden

Member

FWIW, this has been discussed and I think partly debunked. The link says:

Apple and Google, on the other hand, collect a third of the sales that happen on their application stores, so each time you buy PokeBalls and other Go paraphernalia to level up, they earn a chunk of change, too. In fact, analysts estimate that out of $100 spent on Pokemon Go in-app purchases, the Silicon Valley giants take their respective 30%, then 30% go to the game developer Niantic, another 30% will go to the Pokemon franchise, and about 10% are left for Nintendo.

But I believe Nintendo has invested heavily in Niantic, and they also are a significant part owner of TPC. So they are likely getting more than 10% when you take all this into account.
 
Success wasn't a guarantee - after all, look how Shuffle (and every other app TPC had released on mobile) have done. This concept happened to be the right one to produce a burst of popularity.
 
FWIW, this has been discussed and I think partly debunked. The link says:



But I believe Nintendo has invested heavily in Niantic, and they also are a significant part owner of TPC. So they are likely getting more than 10% when you take all this into account.

Yup, that's true.
 

KingBroly

Banned
It doesn't. But if Nintendo is smart about money (and sometimes they're not), they would see this as an opportunity to eventually transition deeper Pokemon experiences to mobile instead of increasingly declining dedicated handheld hardware sales. Everyone owns a phone. The reasons people are playing this are because it's free and old Milennials don't have to buy a 3DS to play this.

Again, the in-depth systems that are in the handheld games right now simply aren't in this. It makes it less attractive for battling if everything's based on one or two things. This game simply isn't designed for battling. It's an afterthought.
 
Again, the in-depth systems that are in the handheld games right now simply aren't in this. It makes it less attractive for battling if everything's based on one or two things. This game simply isn't designed for battling. It's an afterthought.
Certainly now, but I think what people are getting at is that Nintendo should recognise the potential for proper battling and add it down the line.
Why would Niantic get such a high cut?
They developed it, didn't they?
 

Shiggy

Member
Certainly now, but I think what people are getting at is that Nintendo should recognise the potential for proper battling and add it down the line.

They developed it, didn't they?

Don't publishers get a much higher cut, especially as they pay for development?
 

Ansatz

Member
Matt Casamassina and his crew will help push Nintendo IPs on iOS from the inside lol.

Nintendo will make billions of dollars per year from mobile? How much are they doing now?
 

Aaron D.

Member
Nice.

Hopefully this will inspire Nintendo to custom-make more traditional IPs for mobile.

Not talking Mario with virtual D-Pad, but more intelligent integration with natural fits like Fire Emblem, Pikmin, Mario RPG, etc.
 

patapuf

Member
I don't think it's even limited to mobile.

If Nintendo ever decides making their own hardware isn't worth it anymore they'll still have plenty of places to sell their games on.
 
Nice.

Hopefully this will inspire Nintendo to custom-make more traditional IPs for mobile.

Not talking Mario with virtual D-Pad, but more intelligent integration with natural fits like Fire Emblem, Pikmin, Mario RPG, etc.

Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem are already coming
 

KingBroly

Banned
Certainly now, but I think what people are getting at is that Nintendo should recognise the potential for proper battling and add it down the line.

It really depends on what kind of player base it's going to have months and years down the line. Putting battles onto Pokemon Go basically kills Nintendo's handheld business. I doubt TPC or Nintendo will do that for numerous reasons.
 

Mato

Member
The "Do not underestimate the power of Pokemon" saying is as relevant today as it was 20 years ago.
 
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