The latest game in the Pokemon series, calledPokemon Quest, came as a bit of a surprise when it wasannounced and released for Nintendo Switchin May. The game, which gives the Pokemon world a blocky makeover and offers a pared down Pokemon battling and collecting experience, has also been released on mobile devices since.
However despite the game coming out of nowhere,Pokemon Questhas managed to be a huge success, The Pokemon Company has announced. The company behind thePokemonfranchise says that the game has been downloaded more than 7.5 million times across Nintendo Switch and Android and iOS devices. It is unclear which platform led the way in terms of downloads or whether roughly 2.5 million downloads have occurred on Switch, Android, and iOS apiece. Though, The Pokemon Company does note that the game was downloaded one million times in its first two days on Nintendo Switch.
While downloads are an important metric, The Pokemon Company will be more interested in how much moneyPokemon Questis bringing in. As a free to play game, the title relies upon microtransactions to make its money, so it’s crucial that players are encouraged to spend on unlocking extra consumables, premium currency and the like. In the game’s first week of availability on Android and iOS,Pokemon Questmade more than $3 million, according to a recent report. This is a solid start for the game and these revenue figures will only increase as more people begin to play and existing players become invested enough to spend.
Some may not be surprised by how successful the game has been so far. There’s the fact that it is a game in the hugely popularPokemonfranchise, which is already a household name. The massive success ofPokemon GO, another mobile spin-off, will have laid the groundwork forPokemon Questand helped to create newPokemonfans on Android and iOS. Moreover,Pokemon Let’s Go PikachuandPokemon Let’s Go Eeveedon’t release on Nintendo Switch until much later in the year, meaning that fans will be craving something to tide them over.
As a free to play game that is relatively easy to get into,Pokemon Questis serving as that snack ahead of the main meal. It’s true that its unique gameplay, which includes collecting mythical shells andcooking different recipesmay be a draw, but the Pokemon fan fever has also drawn a significant number of people to the game.
Pokemon Questis available on Nintendo Switch and Android and iOS devices.
