Pokémon Go developer dismisses "incorrect" report that claimed revenue down to lowest since 2018

UPDATE 11/5/23: App store analytics firm AppMagic has now responded to Niantic's claim its report on Pokémon Go revenue was "incorrect".

"Surely, there's an inevitable inaccuracy in our estimates as in any other service of the same type as ours. For such large apps like Pokemon Go monthly discrepancy is usually around +/- five percent," an AppMagic spokesperson told Eurogamer.

"What we do to estimate revenue is analyse positions of apps in the platforms' top grossing apps rankings. And since it's publicly available data, anyone can see that the current position of Pokémon Go (on average across countries, weighted on their impact) in March-April 2023 was at the lowest since February 2018.

"What else can matter is that Pokémon Go can generate some revenue aside from mobile app stores in-app purchases, and we can't see it.

"We understand Niantic being concerned about public reports on their business performance. But we are just a tool that analyses in-store apps' performance, that can be used by anyone, who understand the basics of working with instruments of this kind."

ORIGINAL STORY 4/5/23: Pokémon Go developer Niantic has responded to a recent estimate of its app store revenue, which appeared to show a sizable dip for the month of April, when controversial changes to remote raid passes took effect.

The claim, by third-party app store analytics firm AppMagic, initially reported by MobileGamer.biz, suggested Pokémon Go's revenue had taken a big hit last month - to its lowest monthly total since February 2018, over five years ago.

Responding to Eurogamer today, Niantic said the estimate was wrong, and that Pokémon Go's 2023 revenue to date was up on the same period in 2022.

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"We generally don't comment on third-party estimates of our revenue as they are often incorrect, which is the case here," a Niantic spokesperson said. "Our revenue so far in 2023 is up on last year."

This statement does not counter the claim that April's app store revenue was down month-on-month - something Niantic suggested was simply business as usual.

As for reports which have linked the report to Niantic's April remote raid changes, the company countered to say it had seen a successful increase in in-person raiding instead.

"We don't focus on month to month trends because they fluctuate based on major live events," Niantic continued. "This year's changes have already increased in-person Raiding and we're excited to introduce exciting new features over the coming months."

Last month, Niantic introduced a series of controversial changes to limit remote raiding in the game - a feature introduced during lockdowns to let you play from your sofa.

Changes included the introduction of a daily limit on the number of remote raid passes you can use each day, and a significant hike in their price. The intent was to rekindle in-person raiding, and cut down on remote raiding as the dominant method of obtaining powerful Pokémon in the game.

While Niantic's statement today discusses Pokémon Go's 2023 revenue as a whole - including several months before those remote raiding changes took effect - the developer previously told Eurogamer it expects its income from the game to remain stable. In an interview with Eurogamer timed alongside the changes being announced, Pokémon Go veteran designer Ed Wu told me that Niantic had done the sums, and expected the changes were "not going to create a short-term revenue impact for us".

"At the end of the day, we are a business that wants to provide this experience for our Trainers for many years to come," Wu said. "There's a long-run sustainability impact to the changes, and that's the reason behind them."

The suggestion was that while fewer remote raid passes would be bought, the higher price would counteract this.

It's also worth remembering that app store revenue is also just one source of income for the game, alongside brand and commercial sponsorships, and the sale of live event tickets through Niantic's web store.