Skip to main content

Millions flocked to Pokémon Go Fest 2020 — and spent millions doing it

By nearly every measure, last weekend’s Pokémon Go Fest 2020 was a success. And developer Niantic Labs has the cash in the bank to prove it.

During the two-day virtual event, Pokémon Go players spent $17.5 million, app analytics company Sensor Tower reported in data provided to GamesIndustry.biz on Tuesday. Players spent $8.9 million on Saturday and $8.6 million on Sunday, and made Saturday the highest single-day Pokémon Go haul since July 29, 2016, when players spent $13.3 million on digital content just a couple of weeks after the game’s launch.

Sensor Tower didn’t specify what the players spent their cash on, but tickets to the two-day event cost $15 each. The tickets gave players access to daily 10-hour events, tasks to complete, rotating Pokémon habitats to explore, and more.

Niantic said in a blog post on Monday that its Pokémon Go Fest attracted “millions of people” from 124 countries but stopped short of saying exactly how many people participated in the event and how much money they spent. The company also declined a Digital Trends request for comment on Sensor Tower’s data and how much revenue it generated last weekend.

Niantic did say, however, that ticket sales exceeded expectations, and it’s now planning to donate $10 million to non-profits as part of the celebration, up from a previously announced $5 million gift. Niantic will donate the funds to various organizations that support Black gaming initiatives “with the ultimate goal of increasing content that represents a more diverse view on the world,” the company said in its blog post.

Pokémon Go Fest was supposed to be a global event where gamers could play the game with each other. But because of the global pandemic, Niantic Labs moved it to an all-virtual event and updated the game with new features that made it easier to play while socially distancing. Over the weekend, players took to Twitter and Reddit to share photos of themselves playing the game both alone and with others (while wearing masks).

Since its launch, Pokémon Go has tallied more than 1 billion downloads and still has millions of players four years after its launch. Sensor Tower said Tuesday that Pokémon Go has generated a total of $3.7 billion in revenue and $539 million in 2020, alone.

Editors' Recommendations

Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger is a freelance technology, video game, and entertainment journalist. He has been writing about the world of…
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet gym rematch guide: teams, weaknesses, and more
The pokemon champion glaring.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet offer trainers three unique quests to pursue through the new Paldea region. This not only adds variety, but plenty more content to do after you accomplish any single task. One of these main quests is the familiar journey to beat all eight gym leaders, claim their badges, defeat the Elite Four, and become the region's Pokémon League Champion. This has been the main goal of essentially all mainline Pokémon games and is just as fun to complete this generation as ever before.

Once you've done all that, however, you might be at a loss for challenging opponents to battle in Paldea. You won't have to restart your entire adventure to get another crack at facing off against your favorite gym leaders, though. So long as you've gotten all the badges, beaten the Elite Four, and become the Champion, you'll be given the option to challenge all the gym leaders to a rematch. However, this isn't a simple repeat of your first fight with them. Every gym leader is far stronger the second time around, so here's how you can best prepare for your rematch in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Read more
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Tera Raid guide: basic tips and tricks
Four trainers ready for battle.

The Pokémon franchise has always specialized in family-friendly RPGs first and foremost. The main mechanics and focus of each game, which is to battle, catch, and train Pokémon, is very easy for even new players to grasp. At the same time, those who have been with the series for a long time have enjoyed a steady evolution of more deep and complex mechanics to further push the competitive nature of fighting monsters. For a long time, battling other trainers was the only real way to challenge yourself after beating the game, but Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has added something else for hardcore trainers to test themselves against.

Tera Raids are the toughest challenges in Scarlet and Violet. These encounters against special Pokémon are so challenging that you can't take them on alone. These battles take advantage of the new Terastallized Pokémon, and are ranked in difficulty with a star level. There's a lot more to these than just throwing your strongest Pokémon out there and hoping for the best. Here's a full breakdown on how Tera Raids work, their rewards, and some tips and tricks to come out on top in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Read more
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: shiny hunting guide
Shiny Azumarill.

It's already a major task to catch all the Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, or any of the games for that matter, but GameFreak introduced another factor completionists will need to account for starting in Generation 2 , and it affects Shiny Pokémon. These are a very rare form of Pokémon that feature alternate colors of their regular, non-shiny forms. They never have any numerical or mechanical differences from their regular versions and are only differentiated based on their color and rarity.

Shiny hunting has been around since shiny Pokémon were introduced, but the methods and odds of encountering them always change from game to game. They make a return in Scarlet and Violet, but the open-world format has made hunting them slightly different. If you want to know how to get the best odds of finding these rare Pokémon, here's everything you need to know about shiny hunting.

Read more