Pokémon Masters might not have the same calibre as Pokémon Go, but it surely is shaping to be a successful game. The latest mobile title from The Pokémon Company and developer DeNA has reportedly earned $26 million in its first week.
Despite being overwhelmed by the popularity of Pokémon Go, Pokémon Masters obtained the aforementioned figure after launching in more than 60 countries. This is actually good enough for the game to deemed the second-best mobile launch in the franchise.
The game has also surpassed Pokémon Rumble Rush, Pokémon Magikarp Jump, and Pokémon Quest. These three titles, in particular, only managed to record around $300,000, $1 million, and $3 million, respectively.
To the surprise of many, most of the revenue earned by Pokémon Masters was through Nintendo’s home country of Japan. This is where the title accumulated at least $16 million, which is around 62% of the total earnings. The figure is then followed by about $4.5 million (17%) from the United States. To round up the top five markets, France, Hong Kong, and Taiwan also contributed with major purchases.
Also, according to the report, 72% of the revenue came from iOS devices. Android, on the other hand, completed the remaining 28%.
Of course, based on the figures acquired by Pokémon Masters, it was unable to come close to the revenue generated by Niantic’s Pokémon Go during its first seven days. The hit Pokémon mobile game was able to generate more than $56 million despite initially launching in Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, and the United States only.
Interestingly, there are two reasons behind the significant success of Pokémon Masters. The first one is the effort that the developers put to bring the game into reality. The battle system, story, and even animations are worth praising. The second reason, and the most important of all, is the type of monetization structure the game follows. It is somewhat similar to Fire Emblem Heroes in that it gives players the ability to spend money in order to recruit powerful trainers.
