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STORE INTELLIGENCE · RANDY NELSON · OCTOBER 2016
Pokémon GO's First In-Game Event Boosted Its Revenue 133%
Niantic more than doubled its revenue from Pokémon GO by slightly tweaking the hit game's behavior for a limited time.
The ability of Pokémon GO to make players open their (digital) wallets and spend big on in-app purchases remains strong nearly four months after launch—and it doesn't even require new content. According to our Store Intelligence estimates, the game's limited-time Halloween event for players, which ends today, increased IAP revenue approximately 133% worldwide, or 2.3X, in its first five days. The game earned approximately $23.3 million worldwide between October 25 and 29, up from approximately $10 million between October 18 and 22.
A Glimpse of Future Potential
The Halloween event increased the chances of players encountering "ghost" Pokémon, made the game pay out double candy (a resource used to upgrade and evolve Pokémon), and drastically shortened the distance needed to walk before a player's buddy Pokémon produced candy. In turn, this made any time spent in the game more lucrative for those looking to upgrade their monster menageries.
What's important to point out is that Niantic didn't need to add any new content, such as additional Pokémon, to the game in order to encourage increased player spending on items such as lure modules that make finding the creatures easier. Not only that, but the game's online community reacted extremely positively to the tweaks introduced during the event, with many calling for more holiday themed events like this in the future.
Given the revenue increase seen in the chart below, we have to imagine that the game's publisher is busy planning additional events around major holidays—not just in the U.S. but around the globe.
During the event, Pokémon GO's average daily net revenue increased to approximately $4.6 million, up from approximately $2 million during the same five days the previous week. Daily revenue on the second day of the event was the highest since mid-September. We're curious to see how the game's daily revenue looks after the event concludes, and what changes Niantic makes for similar events in the future. Of course, this is but a sneak preview of what we can expect when an entirely new wave of Pokémon are added to the game, something that players are hoping will happen in the next few months.
