‘Pokemon Go’ earns $200 million in first month, knocking ‘Candy Crush’ down

“Pokemon Go” has raked in $200 million in net revenue globally on the App Store and Google Play in its first month, beating other top-earning games such as “Candy Crush” and “Clash Royale”, according to the latest research.

App intelligence firm Sensor Tower crunched the numbers on the first 30 days of the viral game where players have to hit the streeets and catch Pokemon.

Sensor Tower found that at the point when the game was launched in Japan on July 22, revenue growth accelerated significantly.

As a comparison, “Clash Royale”, which was released in early March, earned just under $125 million in its first 30 days. “Clash Royale” was made by Supercell, the company behind “Clash of Clans” which was recently bought by Chinese internet giant Tencent for $8.6 billion.

“Pokemon Go” also earned more than seven times as much net revenue in its first month as “Candy Crush Soda Saga”, the viral hit which was released in 2014.

Sensor Tower also notes that “Pokemon Go” was the fastest mobile game to reach 10 million downloads worldwide and users are spending around 26 minutes a day on average playing.

The game is free to download but offers in-app purchases where users can buy additional items. Niantic, the game’s creator, also struck a deal withMcDonald’s in Japan which has turned 3,000 of the fast food chain’s restaurants into “gyms” where players can battle each other. This sponsored location model is expected to be something Niantic continues with and could help it drive further revenues.

It’s unclear how much of this money Nintendo will see. Last month, the Japanese gaming giant said that “Pokemon Go” will have a “limited” impact on income and that it won’t modify its financial forecasts. It clarified that it in fact does not make the game. It owns 32 percent of the “voting power of The Pokemon Company “, which holds the ownership rights to the fictional monsters. And the game is distributed and made by Niantic, which is a separate company. Nintendo does however have a small stake in Niantic.

“Pokemon Go” is still being rolled out into new territories while Niantic is still trying to iron out problems that have angered fans. However, the game has been banned in Iran where authorities cited “security concerns” over the game as players are encouraged to visit real life spaces.

Source: CNBC