Niantic's third location-based AR mobile game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, launches in the United States and United Kingdom on Friday, and, by all accounts, has a lot to live up to. The publisher's 2016 hit Pokémon GO has generated $2.6 billion in player spending to date, according to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates, with $55 million of that added last month alone.
The title's global player base has spent an estimated $368 million so far in 2019, which is about 21 percent more than the $304 million it generated during the same period in 2018. The U.S. has led spending in 2019 to date, accounting for about 35 percent of the total, with Japan representing 31 percent of revenue. Last year, Japan had contributed the most revenue by this point at 33 percent of all spending in the title.
Pokémon GO ranked No. 11 among all apps for revenue last month. We'll be closely monitoring its performance throughout the Harry Potter: Wizards Unite launch period, which will overlap with Pokémon GO's third launch anniversary on July 6. To date, Wizards Unite has grossed an estimated $72,000 in Australia and New Zealand ahead of releasing in the U.S. and U.K. By comparison, Pokémon GO took in approximately $1.6 million in those markets during the same period of time.