Pokémon Go celebrates ninth anniversary and $8.8bn in gross player spending

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Augmented reality giant Pokémon Go celebrated its ninth anniversary yesterday, July 6th, as it comes closer and closer to a decade on mobile.

Pokémon Go took the world by storm in 2016 as players flooded outside to spend the summer searching for nostalgic 90s Pokémon, in what soon became a second wave of PokéMania.

Enthusiasm for the title has remained in the years since, with Go officially continuing to reach over 20 million weekly players with an average playtime of 40 minutes per day. Roughly 50% of those players log in seven days a week.

Events also continue to thrive, with Pokémon Go Fest: Global 2024 having sold two million tickets – outselling Glastonbury nearly 10 times over.

And, according to AppMagic estimates, gross player spending between Google Play and the App Store has totalled nearly $8.8bn to date.

Go’s true earnings are likely even higher, considering revenue from its web shop, alternative app stores and partnerships.

Spend, spend, spend

Pokémon Go’s ninth anniversary was its first celebrated under Scopely’s ownership, after a $3.5bn acquisition of Niantic’s licenced games was closed this May. The deal brought Pokémon Go, Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom into Scopely’s portfolio alongside the games’ development teams.

Before the acquisition was completed, Niantic confirmed that Go players have collectively walked over 30 billion miles.

The game is by far the most lucrative Pokémon title on mobile as one of only two in the franchise to have surpassed $1bn on the platform. While newcomer Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is rising fast – having reached 10 figures faster than Go did – it has still generated just 13% of Go’s lifetime player spending.

The third-biggest mobile Pokémon game, Pokémon Masters, released in 2019 yet it has achieved just 4% of Go’s mega sum, currently at $373.3m.

Notably, unlike those runners-up whose most lucrative audiences are in Japan, Pokémon Go’s top spender is the US. The country has contributed 39% of lifetime spending on major app stores, ahead of Japan’s 31% contribution. Germany ranks third at just 5%, marginally ahead of the UK and Canada.

After generating $1.1bn on the major stores in year one, Pokémon Go’s revenue declined by 37% in year two before bouncing back in year three. Its fourth year, which ended partway into the 2020 pandemic, saw Go return beyond $1bn in annual spend.

Although players couldn’t explore outside as easily, the dev team introduced Remote Raid Passes in April that year, designed to allow players to team up and battle alongside friends from a distance.

Year five was even more lucrative – Go’s best year yet, at almost $1.5bn – as players continued to battle via Remote Raids. But as the pandemic came to an end, spending on the major app stores fell for the next three consecutive years.

Notably, year nine has seen a small resurgence in spending, up 1% year-over-year to $827.6m.

Again, total spending is likely even higher than this when factoring in Pokémon Go’s web shop, which has been increasingly pitched at players in recent years.

Celebrating in style

Pokémon Go’s ninth anniversary celebrations began on July 1st and ran until the anniversary day itself, 6th. During this time, players were able to find Bulbasuar, Charmander, Squirtle, Eevee and others wearing party hats, Pikachu wearing a cake hat, as well as Gimmighoul holding a ninth anniversary coin.

There was also a paid Masterwork Research available to purchase during the anniversary week, unlocking missions to obtain a rare Shiny Jirachi.

This came at the climax of 12 months of sizeable updates, like anime crossovers, the introduction of Pokémon from Switch games Sword and Shield, and the new battle mechanic Dynamax and Gigantamax after a five-year wait.

The last major event of year nine was Pokémon Go Fest 2025 in Osaka, New Jersey and Paris, which culminated in a global event on June 28th and 29th. Despite tickets being sold at better value on Go’s web shop, daily spending on the major app stores still reached a record high for 2025 on June 29th, at $10m.

This outperformed the year’s previous record of $9m with Pokémon Go Tour: Unova Global on March 1st.

Now, as Pokémon Go moves into its tenth year, players await the latest Pokémon, content and updates. New artwork has quietly teased Paradox Pokémon – reimaginings of existing species from the ancient past and far future, as seen in Switch games Scarlet and Violet – though no announcement has yet been made on how they’ll be implemented.

“For nearly a decade, we’ve been absolutely delighted to witness Trainers worldwide unite through their shared love for exploration, catching, battling, forging friendships, and deepening their knowledge of Pokémon,” the Pokémon Go team said.

“We’re so excited to continue this adventure with you, wherever your Pokémon Go journey leads next.”