Pokemon Go Has Most Players Since 2016

Pokemon Go's player base has swelled to its largest size since 2016 and earned over $100 million in May, which far exceeds its 2017 numbers.

A new report by the market analysis firm Superdata puts Pokemon Go as the fourth highest grossing mobile game in May 2018 after three Chinese mobile games. Notably, Pokemon Go outperformed games like Clash of Clans, Candy Crush, and Clash Royale.

While the popular shooter Fortnite also earned over $300 million in May, that was across all platforms so SuperData didn't include the game on its list of top-grossing mobile games. Fortnite topped the charts of top-grossing console games and also made an appearance on the list of top-grossing PC games.

The report also noted that Pokemon Go's user base is the largest its been since interest in the game started to fade in summer 2016. Although some sites were quick to point out that the game probably benefited from the announcement that the mobile games would sync up with the new Pokemon: Let's Go Nintendo Switch games, that announcement wasn't made until May 30th and probably had little effect on the May surge in players. More likely, the surge in money and players were due to events like Adventure Week, Community Day, and a growing re-interest in the game.

Pokemon Go's user base is expected to continue to grow due to Pokemon: Let's Go and a new friendship feature that allows players to trade Pokemon with their friends. With the addition of Legendary Pokemon, a revamped battling system, and a new research feature, Pokemon Go is a completely different game than it was in 2016. The server issues that plagued the game back in 2016 are also all but gone, giving players a much smoother experience than during launch.

Niantic Labs, the maker of Pokemon Go, has also made keeping players engaged a higher priority. Not only do players get one or more events a month, there's also Global Challenges in store for later this summer that will grant major bonuses to all players if they can complete certain challenges in a timeframe.

Of course, Pokemon Go's player base also grew in part due to the arrival of summer in the United States, as the warm weather is more amenable to playing the exploration-style game than braving the cold or rain.

To get more Pokemon Go news, be sure to follow me on Twitter at @CHofferCbus and friend me on Pokemon Go by entering the friendship code 2441 3005 7237!