Pokemon GO is an outright worldwide pop culture landmark. If only one mobile game is going to end up in the history books that future generations will be reading, Pokemon GO will definitely be that one, aside from a mention of the fact that it finally managed to break the stranglehold that Candy Crush Saga had on the mobile market in literally every way. Right now, Pokemon GO makes the most money from the most users spending the most time in game out of any mobile game out there, despite its still limited worldwide availability. Live app statistics from App Institute paint a picture of a game that goes beyond wildly successful and veers head-on into cornerstone of modern culture territory.
As of this writing, the page has been up in the background of the same browser this article is being written in for just over 6 minutes, and the revenue is into the $60,000 territory. Downloads are in the tens of thousands, with iOS outpacing Android by a decent margin. As for the origins of those downloads, a huge amount are from the United States, with the UK coming in a distant second. The average time spent in-app for iOS users is between 30 and 40 minutes, giving the likes of Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter a run for their money. The only mobile game besides Pokemon GO to make it into the Top 5 is Slither.io, sitting at an average of about 10 minutes spent in-game per user per day.
The revenue figures are pretty incredible when you consider the fact that Pokemon GO is ad-free. The only money that the app pulls in for its creators comes from the microtransactions. Whether it’s a huge pack of Pokeballs that would normally require an hour of walking in the city, or items like incense and lures that would otherwise only be awarded sparingly at level up, Pokemon GO definitely gets in app purchases right. While the items on offer may fall into pay to win territory, they also seem very fair, and more importantly, fairly priced. This, combined with the huge amount of players that mostly seem poised to stick around, bodes quite well for the future fortunes of Pokemon GO, which means more demand for the Pokemon franchise in general, and even more money for Nintendo.