What you need to know
- Pokémon GO has its best-ever year in terms of user spending in 2019.
- Users spent nearly $900 million in 2019.
- That's a 10% increase on 2018, and even better than its 2016 launch year.
Reports have revealed that Pokémon GO saw its best-ever year of user spending in 2019.
New Sensor Tower data suggests that user spending in Pokémon GO reached $894 million in 2019, a market improved on 2018, and the highest ever user spend in a year for PoGO.
Of course, Pokémon GO was released in July of 2016 but still managed to achieve user spend figures of $832 million. So whilst 2019 was the biggest year overall for the game, it's not quite a fair comparison.
PoGo has enjoyed something of a resurgence in popularity after engagement (and spending) slipped in its second year, user spending fell by 29% to a still enormous $589 million. Sensor Tower notes:
2017 represented a down year for the game, although it still accumulated an estimated $589 million in player spending. The title rebounded and proceeded to rack up approximately $816 million in 2018.Much of the game's growth since 2017 can be attributed to significant updates and both in-game and real-world events. Last year saw the introduction of franchise antagonists Team Rocket at the end of July, sparking its fourth and fifth-best months ever, generating $116 million in August and $126 million in September.Its top three months for user spending came in 2016 when hype for the game was at its highest and it generated $256 million in July, $195 million in August, and $141 million in September of that year.
According to Sensor Tower, the US accounted for the biggest portion of spending with some $335 million, about 38%, Japan came second with $286 million, and Germany was third with $54 million.
The Android-iOS Split was about 55-45, Android users spending $482 million on the game (54%) and iOS users spending $412 million (46%).
Total spending on the app to date totals more than $3.1 billion.
With recent updates including Trade being incorporated into Evolution and new species, Pokémon GO is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving for both players and Niantic.
