Pokemon Go, the highly popular pocket monster-catching game that uses real-world surroundings has earned $1 billion in player spendings in 2020 so far. This has been the best year for Pokemon Go yet even though more than half the world is in lockdown. 

Sensor Tower reports, Pokemon Go earned $832 million in player spendings the year it launched in 2016. While spendings did decline in 2017, it has continued to grow for the past ten months of 2020. 

© Unsplash/mika-baumeister

Pokemon Go heavily depends on using augmented reality where the game projects pocket monsters for players to catch that appear in the real-world. However, once the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, players were reduced to staying indoors which directly affected the game. Temporary changes were made to help players play the game staying at home. The new change was probably the reason behind Pokemon Go’s newfound success especially for players who don’t reside in metropolitan cities. 

The new remote raiding feature was introduced as soon as the pandemic hit which lets people battle bosses together with friends at a local “gym”. It also lets users invite friends who are further away from each other and is now the primary way to battle bosses and play the game with friends. 

© Sensor Tower

Sensor Tower also reports that Pokemon Go is the "No. 3 mobile game by global player spendings outside of third-party stores, such as those in China.” The game sits on the third position right behind PUBG mobile and Honor of Kings. 

© unsplash/mika-baumeister

Pokemon Go has earned about $4.2 billion in player spendings globally to date and it seems like the game will reach new highs by the end of 2020. Google Play accounts for the majority of Pokemon Go’s revenue by generating $2.2 billion in revenue. Pokemon Go has 600 million downloads globally and is amongst the highest-grossing apps/games of all time.

Source: Sensor Tower

Niantic, the developer behind Pokemon Go is now adding in-game events, cosmetic items, optional Community Day research tickets, and other items to further increase user spendings in-game.

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