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Pokémon Go: unprecedented retention, 2x the average ARPDAU, higher than Candy Crush

For a guy with a Reggie profile picture you sure are cynical about Nintendo.

He has a point though. Just because you have a fallback doesn't mean you can keep throwing things at the wall to see if it sticks and failing the venture.

That was how they got to near bankruptcy the first time.
 

jdstorm

Banned
I think the best arguement for the long term health of this game is how quickly businesses are jumping on board to cash in. If a whole lot of highly successful businesses are going to have a symboitic relationship with this game it will have legs for a very long time.

In Sydney Australia on Monday a local landmark is dropping lures for 2 hours just to increase traction (as many smaller businesses have done) this steady stream of income from the business community is unprecedented for a mobile game as far as I'm aware
 

Ck1

Banned
For a guy with a Reggie profile picture you sure are cynical about Nintendo.

People like him are always cynical about Nintendo though! This company strives on doing different things and bringing about new ways to play games. Sony and Microsoft may get away with releasing gradual living room closed box PC's, but we need at least one company that tries to do something different.

Everything I've seen from VR so far shows that companies like Sony are good at making great hardware, but really can't make compelling software to drive people to want it obsessively. Just look at 2 failed systems from both companies in the WiiU and the Vita. Looking at both, Nintendo has far more compelling software that showcases the hardware than Sony's has done with either the Vita or accessories like the Move and Eyetoy.
 

R00bot

Member
He has a point though. Just because you have a fallback doesn't mean you can keep throwing things at the wall to see if it sticks and failing the venture.

That was how they got to near bankruptcy the first time.

I kinda agree, but having successes like this only leads to a higher chance of Nintendo's next ventures doing well. If the NX can somehow capitalise on even half the active users of Pokemon Go then they've already sold over 10 million units.
 
To people discrediting it and saying it is only X amount of time, these trends are indicative of things to come and there's absolutely no reason to expect this game to crash all of a sudden.
 
I read in the New York Post that the game is already projected to rake in billions yearly, so I imagine they'll make back their investment if they haven't already.

In terms of how much it cost to make, I don't know, but the database of locations was imported from Niantic's previous title, Ingress, so that right there probably saved a great deal of time and money.

Yea, it will defintely make money. I'm wondering if it's not already profitable though since a lot of the stuff apparently came from Ingress. Not exactly sure what all they had to create but it shouldn't have cost too much to create, right?
 
I'm curious how much it legitimately cost to develop it. Is the game already profitable? I know Nintendo and Google invested something like 20 million into Niantic, but was that only for 1 game and has it already made that back?

The game is making multiple millions per day, there is no doubt that they will make back a lot more than whatever they invested into it.
 
The game is making multiple millions per day, there is no doubt that they will make back a lot more than whatever they invested into it.

Yea, I'm not questioning that. My interest is in what the development actually cost them and if they have already made that back. It's been out a week and was projected to make 1.6 million a day on iOS. That's over 10 million already on just iOS. I'm guessing they have either already made back their money on development costs or will very, very soon.
 

daman824

Member
They really need to add casual battles. Eventually, people aren't going to want to JUST fight against the really high cp Pokemon at gyms. My strongest is 777, but most gyms around me have Pokemon in the 1000 range. It's not fun fighting those. And they are going to want to battle against their friends. Even if it's still the same basic battle system, they have to add it
 

AzaK

Member
Problem with a broken game is that it won't take long for people to tire of it. They need to have plans all ready to go for new features, BUG FIXES GALORE etc.
 
I wonder where it will be in a month time.

It could lose half its users in a month and still would probably make 200 million.

And many of those will come back for updates. But there's no way they're losing that many users.

The social ties to this game are real. Real in person social interactions. No "post to your friends on Facebook" there are groups of people making this a part of their evening routines or multiple times a week.

There will be many stories of real life friendships and relationships that started from this game. The atmosphere is like a summer camp right now.
 

Calamari41

41 > 38
Personally the more I play the more addicted I get. I can see myself playing for a while but not paying anything.

My anecdotal experience is that this is escalating by the day, rather than waning. At the beginning of the week, my local map was decently populated with lures and gyms and so on. Tonight, looking at the same map is like looking at Disneyland during the fireworks.
 

akileese

Member
Problem with a broken game is that it won't take long for people to tire of it. They need to have plans all ready to go for new features, BUG FIXES GALORE etc.

They do though. They've already outlined that they want to add trainer battles and trainer trading. There are bugs to work out but the last two days have been the most stable the servers have been since the APK leaked during the AUS/NZ leak.
 

SnakeEyes

Banned
Yea, I'm not questioning that. My interest is in what the development actually cost them and if they have already made that back. It's been out a week and was projected to make 1.6 million a day on iOS. That's over 10 million already on just iOS. I'm guessing they have either already made back their money on development costs or will very, very soon.
With how much of the game is based on the framework of Ingress, I can't see their development costs being too high. They'll already be profitable, or will be very soon.
 
It could lose half its users in a month and still would probably make 200 million.

And many of those will come back for updates. But there's no way they're losing that many users.

The social ties to this game are real. Real in person social interactions. No "post to your friends on Facebook" there are groups of people making this a part of their evening routines or multiple times a week.

There will be many stories of real life friendships and relationships that started from this game. The atmosphere is like a summer camp right now.

Yup. Just got back from the park (11 at night in a smallish WV town) and there were nearly a 100 people there in different groups, chatting, laughing and catching Pokemon.

This is the real deal.
 

Nosgotham

Junior Member
I know this is pretty big, but I think people are hyping this up beyond what it is. Giving us these stats months later? Fine. A week later? Really?

i see crowds over 100 everyday in parks that used to be vacant. its just as big as people think it is.
 

BKSmash

Member
Nintendo is the Zombie of Gaming industry lol. When you thought they are finished, they are back stronger and bigger lol.

I love Nintendo and wish them lots of success, but the thing is though.. This game is only partly made by them, and nothing Nintendo has released in quite a while has brought hype to the average consumer.

But yeah, let's hope this is a turning point for Nintendo's downfall and a rising success with the NX, future mobile games and everything else they have in store.
 
I love Nintendo and wish them lots of success, but the thing is though.. This game is only partly made by them, and nothing Nintendo has released in quite a while has brought hype to the average consumer.

But yeah, let's hope this is a turning point for Nintendo's downfall and a rising success with the NX, future mobile games and everything else they have in store.

It's necessary. Niantic can't make a game nearly as popular without Nintendo characters Nintendo can't have the map data and infrastructure without niantic. Same deal with App Store/android.
 
GetFile.aspx
And they spell disaster for humanity.
 
But yeah, let's hope this is a turning point for Nintendo's downfall and a rising success with the NX, future mobile games and everything else they have in store.

If Nintendo's serious about trying to get their other apps a fraction of this lightning in a bottle, they'll observe how Pokemon Go does through the month.
 
I really don't think the naysayers understand the mobile market or the psychological factor inherent in mobile retention rates.

Once these users have started putting in money they are almost guaranteed to come back periodically. I expect a lot of people to stop playing it constantly but as with most F2P apps once the hooks are in its very rare for everyone to just forget about it completely.

I have always felt that part of it is a psychological process wherein once you have put in a certain amount you feel obligated to get the most out of the app in the long term, especially considering how easy it is to just play the games casually on your commute etc.

Are there any examples of F2P games that have KPI through the roof like this which have only lasted a few months in the spotlight? As someone who actually researches this stuff, it seems like that is a rare occurrence and far from the norm. Have I missed something?
 

mhayze

Member
I paid 13 cents of real money, along with $20.87 in Google Play credit...

Will it hold for months though? I doubt it, unless updates and polishing come quickly.

It's only been out for a week, hasn't it? Isn't it too soon to be talking about this?

Understandable doubts. But here are some figures & facts:

Over 25 million active daily players after 10 days, and it's not out in China, Japan and Korea, all of which can reasonably be expected to add millions of players, and arguably Brazil and India as well.

Average monetization per daily user so far is = $0.25/day, so it's making ~$6.25M/day that it keeps those numbers.

Let's say with the far east releases they grow by another 15 million to 40 million, even counting the inevitable fall-off for some players (being very conservative there) and that
the falloff is 25% per quarter, you will have a slightly non-standard bell curve of users, and I expect they could make something like:

tdxU5YA.png


Obviously some speculation here, but reasonably conservative, since it doesn't consider merchandise, spin-offs, money from businesses and other deals.
I think they will make over a billion dollars this year, unless it falls off the rails, and even then several hundreds of millions. Best case - over $2B.

Now that is money to Ninantic and Nintendo, and I don't know what the revenue sharing deal is with Google. In 2015, Nintendo made $4.5 Billion or thereabouts, so even if they keep half, that's going bolster income in a big way.
 
Now that is money to Ninantic and Nintendo, and I don't know what the revenue sharing deal is with Google. In 2015, Nintendo made $4.5 Billion or thereabouts, so even if they keep half, that's going bolster income in a big way.

From what I see, Niantic's money is mostly through investments. 20 million dollars and an additional 10 million after milestones. Most of the revenue is split between Google, Pokemon Company, and Nintendo through their investing in Niantic (and Pokemon Company as a publisher). Because of their 1/3 ownership of the Pokemon Company, Nintendo would take 11% of the 33% of money that Pokemon Company receives from sales, along with their 1/3 share because of the investment.

Google obviously takes more money from Android platforms, but Nintendo is generally getting around a third of all the revenue from both platforms. So if Pokemon Go maintains a high grossing momentum (at least top 5) while expanding more countries and your hypothetical estimate of around 2 Billion is reached, it would net Nintendo revenue in the range of 600 million bucks. Without the Go Plus sales taken into the account also.
 

caleb1915

Member
From what I see, Niantic's money is mostly through investments. Most of the revenue is split between Google, Pokemon Company, and Nintendo through their investing in Niantic (and Pokemon Company as a publisher). Because of their 1/3 ownership of the Pokemon Company, Nintendo would take 11% of the 33% of money that Pokemon Company receives from sales, along with their 1/3 share because of the investment.

Google obviously takes more money from Android platforms, but Nintendo is generally getting around a third of all the revenue from both platforms. So if Pokemon Go maintains a high grossing momentum (at least top 5) while expanding more countries and your hypothetical estimate of around 2 Billion is reached, it would net Nintendo revenue in the range of 600 million bucks.

Do you have anything to back that up? I don't think Nintendo is getting close to a third of the revenue considering they only have 1/3rd of a stake in just one of the three companies you listed getting revenue from the app.

The success of the app and the subsequent profits from it seem to have very, very, very, little to do with Nintendo at all. The only thing they're getting is an investment boost because of the app's popularity. It's a Nintendo associated property and it's only good press for them.
 
Do you have anything to back that up? I don't think Nintendo is getting close to a third of the revenue considering they only have 1/3rd of a stake in just one of the three companies you listed getting revenue from the app.

The success of the app and the subsequent profits from it seem to have very, very, very, little to do with Nintendo at all. The only thing they're getting is an investment boost because of the app's popularity. It's a Nintendo associated property and it's only good press for them.

I'm only voicing what I read in the article that was on neogaf earlier.

http://www.shacknews.com/article/95801/how-much-money-is-nintendo-going-to-make-off-of-pokemon-go

But yes, the success of the app is not from direct involvement from Nintendo. That does not mean they don't greatly benefit financially.
 

caleb1915

Member
I'm only voicing what I read in the article that was on neogaf earlier.

http://www.shacknews.com/article/95801/how-much-money-is-nintendo-going-to-make-off-of-pokemon-go

But yes, the success of the app is not from direct involvement from Nintendo. That does not mean they don't greatly benefit financially.

well of course they're benefiting from it. I just don't think it's nearly to the amount that people are suggesting, the biggest boost they seem to be getting is their stock shooting way up because of the app's huge success. Direct revenue and profits from the app I think is going to be way less, maybe breaking even on their investment with Niantic by the end of the year. About 30 million.
 

caleb1915

Member
Hahaha, just read the link, and that's basically what they said. The direct revenue is nothing compared to their stock value skyrocketing. Sorry, I seem to have conflated a completely different meaning to your post/.
 
well of course they're benefiting from it. I just don't think it's nearly to the amount that people are suggesting, the biggest boost they seem to be getting is their stock shooting way up because of the app's huge success. Direct revenue and profits from the app I think is going to be way less, maybe breaking even on their investment with Niantic by the end of the year. About 30 million.

Even 11% through its ownership of Pokemon Co would still net them around 100 million if the app generates even $1 Billion.

Who was near bankruptcy?

After Nintendo branched out of their original playing card business, they went through several different ventures to see what would stick, like taxis services and love hotels. All of them failed and they were losing almost all the money until they created toys.
 

caleb1915

Member
Even 11% through its ownership of Pokemon Co would still net them around 100 million if the app generates even $1 Billion.

yeah, i responded before reading your link like a dummy, I thought they only invested through the Pokemon Co itself. Which would make my number make a bit more sense.
 
I don't think the development of the game can keep up with the demand for complexity. It feels like everyone playing is catching them all for some future purpose that is unclear. The rate they are catching is much faster than any possible use we have. So those that dont see the ultimate pointlessness coming, and quit, those left will end up with the best CP 1000 to CP 2000 pokemons, and level 20+ at which point the backlash will start. It won't matter what decisions you made, really. Or if it did it will be dumb chance who played better and who played worse, because we have no idea what the ultimate purpose is.

That point will happen before they add clans, fighting, trading, tournaments and all the other stuff necessary to retain the zeitgeist.

Like twitch they are gps spoofing and cleaning up and probably making a lot of viewers, but omg it has got to be so boring for the streamers, without the socIal outdoor thing happening.

When most people have 100 or so collected the social thing starts to fall apart. Hey guys there is a pikachu over there! So what. I have him, we all do.
 
Do you have anything to back that up? I don't think Nintendo is getting close to a third of the revenue considering they only have 1/3rd of a stake in just one of the three companies you listed getting revenue from the app.

The success of the app and the subsequent profits from it seem to have very, very, very, little to do with Nintendo at all. The only thing they're getting is an investment boost because of the app's popularity. It's a Nintendo associated property and it's only good press for them.

1/3 of the pokemon company, a percentage of creatures inc that in turn own 1/3 of the Pokemon company and a percentage of niantic, overall nintendo will be doing very well out of this
 

caleb1915

Member
1/3 of the pokemon company, a percentage of creatures inc that in turn own 1/3 of the Pokemon company and a percentage of niantic, overall nintendo will be doing very well out of this

Right, the link Sin posted cleared things up for me in regards to shareholder's and company stake Nintendo has in the developers of the app.



Before I assumed the only invested interests was Nintendo's 33 percent majority stake in the Pokemon Co.
 

Celine

Member
Before I assumed the only invested interests was Nintendo's 33 percent majority stake in the Pokemon Co.
They aren't factoring that Nintendo has also a minority stake in Creatures Inc.
Not to talk by the additional revenue brought in by Pokemon GO Plus.
 
There's a PLUS version of the app coming out?

There is a bluetooth accessory coming out called the Pokemon Go Plus, which allows you to perform the basic functions of catching and accessing pokestops (ad other functions presumably) without looking at your phone. $34.99 and manufactured directly by Nintendo. Preorders have been sold out almost everywhere for months. EBay listings reach up to 150 dollars in bids.

 
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