Pokemon Go grew mobile market by $950m without impacting rivals

Pokemon’s Go massive success in 2016 didn’t come at the expense of its biggest rivals in the mobile space. According to app ecosystem analyst App Annie the game hit $950m in revenue by the end of 2016, yet its competitors weren’t notably affected by this massive haul.

The report stated: ‘Contrary to publishers’ concerns, we have noted that it did not appear to eat into other games’ revenue or usage.’ That just goes to show the opportunities which still exist in the mobile space; for the right game attached to the right IP. While the big hitters are increasingly spending huge amounts in advertising to attract new players, Niantic created a game that brought millions of new players into the mobile gaming space.

Pokemon Go was quick off the line too, App Annie compared it to major rivals, such as Candy Crush Saga, Puzzle & Dragons ad Clash of Clans, showing that it was many times faster at hitting $800m in revenue than any of those titles. However, it’s worth noting that all of those titles were released back in 2012, in the heydey of big mobile launches. The fact that all three still rank in App Annie’s Top 10 Games (worldwide revenue) is telling at just how long a big title can last.

Keeping that in mind, the Pokemon Go phenomenon is far from over then. MCV spoke to Niantic’s Mike Quigley late last year about the company’s plans for the future: We’re heads down focused very much on Pokmon Go. That is a marathon, not a sprint for us. We are just getting started. We have a lot of new features coming to the title. We’re pretty focused on that. Long term, that is the intention."