Pokemon Go Has Hit A Record Low?
Pokemon Go's April revenue is the lowest it has ever been, and it may have something to do with recent changes the game made.
After making the fans livid over one specific function of the game, the controversial Pokemon Go has hit a record low, earning only $34.7 million in April, which is a notable dip in revenue and the lowest monthly total since February 2018. Niantic, the game’s developer, claims that the figure is wrong and that the game generated more revenue than AppMagic’s report.
According to Kotaku, Pokemon Go’s monthly revenue has reached its lowest number in the past five years, and right at the time when the game is facing some major controversies—most of which are tied to changes introduced during the pandemic. The report suggests that the game made more than $58 million in February this year, followed by a dip to $42.8 million in March, followed by the aforementioned figure for April. Ninatic’s spokesperson negated the figures, stating that the company doesn’t focus on month-to-month financial performance.
This new drop in revenue for Pokemon Go is likely tied to the removal of all the features implemented during the pandemic. Given that it’s a very social game that demands gamers to move around, walk, talk, and explore their surroundings to catch Pokemon and fight other trainers, Pokemon Go had to make massive changes to the game as means of adapting to the pandemic-induced lockdowns. Of course, these were well received by the fandom, as they allowed players to enjoy nearly all of the game’s content without having to leave the comfort and safety of their homes.
However, these implementations proved to be a massive advantage to one group of gamers whose movement is perhaps limited—players with disabilities. Implementations such as Remote Raids made it possible for those gamers to enjoy the game to a greater extent. Naturally, gamers wanted Pokemon Go to retain most of those features, which should be considered as accessibility options, but Niantic started rolling back on the changes the moment lockdowns were lifted. Of course, gamers didn’t approve of this; they were extremely upset.
With remote play now gone, the majority of players with disabilities have very limited options from within the game itself, so some have collectively abandoned the game. They’re not alone; other gamers have joined in since all the changes made the gaming collective feel discouraged to continue playing Pokemon Go. This had a massive effect on the revenue the game generated.
It’s worth noting that fluctuations in gaming revenue are common, especially in online gaming, mostly due to technical issues, real-world events, other gaming releases, etc.
However, considering the timing of this fluctuation, it’s possible that the drop in revenue is a consequence of gamers leaving. This isn’t the first time Niantic struggled with negative publicity regarding Pokemon Go. The fans were very angry when the company implemented the first set of rollbacks, pushing the developer to its heels.
However, Niantic dodged the tipping point by a split hair by changing the game after fan demand to remove some of the pandemic-induced implementations while retaining those considered as accessibility options.
