Niantic charge sponsors up to $0.50 per visitor when certain locations are turned into PokeStops and Gyms.

As reported by TechCrunch, Niantic's VP of Strategic Partnerships Mathieu de Fayet told Brazilian newspaper Globo that "partners pay $0.15 for each visitor attracted to the game".

However, when reached for confirmation, Niantic revealed that this was an error in translation. An official statement said that "Niantic’s cost per visit (CPV) model visit has partners spending less than $0.50 / daily unique visit to sponsored locations."

Buddy up

Niantic had also stated that its partnership with McDonalds Japan had resulted in 2,000 visitors each day. With 3,000 stores used in the partnership, this could mean that during the game's peak the developer could have generated anywhere between $900,000 and $3 million a day from these sponsored locations alone, depending on which CPV is correct.

The potential cost isn't turning away partners. SK Telecom has turned 4,000 of its stores into PokeStops and Gyms in a deal made in March 2017, while Starbucks offered 7,800 of its stores in a deal back in December 2016.

Niantic isn't the only one seeing huge money from Pokemon GO. The Pokemon Company, which owns the Pokemon license, had its profits rocket to $143.3 million in its last financial year in part thanks to the game's success.