Pokémon Go will make $1bn a year, App Annie claims

Recently released free-to-play game Pokmon Go is going to make a lot of money, research firm App Annie claims.

The company says that Pokmon Go could potentially generate $1bn a year, on the condition that the game no longer suffers server issues, is out worldwide and has further social and player v. player options.

This, of course, relies on Pokmon Go being a sustained hit. Keep in mind we are still in the midst of the game’s launch period where excitement as at its height. Whether the mobile title will continue to bring in huge amounts of money over a long period of time.

But speaking of money, App Annie says that Pokmon Go has generated well over $1m in net revenue for developer Niantic Labs thus far. It’s only out in three regions so far, too.

The research outlet also says that – in the US, Australia and New Zealand – Pokmon Go has been the No.1 grossing game on iOS since noon on its launch date of Thursday July 7th, while it hit the top grossing spot on Google Play on Saturday, July 10th.

To put that into perspective – it took Supercell’s Clash Royale two days to reach to the No.1 spot in the iOS grossing charts, and seven days on Google Play. That performance is global, however.

Even though Pokmon Go is only officially open in 3 countries, the game is generating well over $1m of net revenue for Niantic Labs,” said App Annie VP of MarCom Fabien Pierre-Nicola.

I can easily envision a run-rate of over $bn per year with less server issues, a worldwide presence and more social and PvP features."

Nintendo is a solid example of what game studios can achieve with a great mobile game design and monetisation strategy. Their jump in valuation by $7.5bn reflects the potential of Nintendo’s top IPs including Mario, Zelda,Pokmonand Metroid."

A UK release for Pokmon Go is expected ‘within the next few days’.