HOUSTON — It’s the fad that defined summer 2016! Virtually everywhere you went this summer, little imaginary creatures had a very real hold on the attention of the young and old.
The reaction was ten times Niantic’s most aggressive projections. But whether people finally caught them all, or due to tiny attention spans , the player base has dropped off.
But while monthly active users has plummeted from 50.2 million in august to 32.4 million in September, daily revenue only dipped 2 percent. The game is estimated to have made over $530 million dollars. Most of that revenue comes from what the industry refers to as power users — people that repeatedly spend real world money on virtual in game tools and currency.
And those 20 million drop offs – some of them will be coming back.
“When the developers bring something new to the table, it will draw those dropped off players back in again, what I’m looking forward to most, the new generations coming out for the game, trading with other players or even battling with other players in the game too,” says Devon Frost, beta-tester for Pokemon Go.
And don’t tell the 32 million plus still playing that the game’s died.
“For me it hasn’t, they just had an event downtown last weekend, 450 people showed up, just off the power of a Facebook post,” said Blair Franklin, who started 2 weeks after launch.
Pokémon trainers aren’t sore about losing their summer fling, they’re still excited about the fun just over fall’s horizon.
Exclusive web extra: Up your game with Pokemon Go Plus device
Pokémon Go Plus came out the same day as the iPhone 7, but to much less fanfare. Even so, fans can’t seem to find it on shelves, as this bluetooth peripheral sells out as soon as it arrives in stock. It’s an accessory for Pokémon Go, and Devon Frost explains just what it does in this CW39.com web exclusive.
