Pokémon Champions makes $3.5m in first week on mobile

• Pokémon Champions has made $3.5 million on mobile in its first week.
• Apple has accounted for three-quarters of mobile spend, having peaked on April 19th.

Pokémon Champions has earned approximately $3.5 million in gross mobile player spending during its first week on the platform.

After launching on Nintendo Switch on April 8th, The Pokémon Company’s new dedicated battling hub expanded onto iOS and Android on June 17th.

During its first seven days outside Nintendo hardware, AppMagic estimates put player spending at $2.6m on the App Store and $860,000 on Google Play.

Spending peaked on the 19th for Apple owners and the 21st for Android gamers, despite both gaining access to the game and its purchasable extras at the same time.

Apple users represent 75% of mobile spending thus far.

Preparing for battle

Pokémon Champions is a free-to-play game created as the new home of competitive Pokémon battling. It features the traditional turn-based battle format of the main series and has launched in a more expensive, experimental age for the franchise.

Where players have previously been expected to keep up with the latest main series release to compete in official Pokémon battles, they can now transfer favourites into Champions from the main series, Legends games and from Pokémon Go.

The battle hub launched with a roster of around 180 Pokémon and has extended to more than 200 as of the mobile expansion. New Mega Evolutions and items were also introduced, diversifying the range of team compositions even further.

Reasons to spend

One week in, Japan has led early mobile spending at 57% of the global sum. The US follows at 15%, while South Korea has contributed 7% of the total.

Notably, while players can participate in battles entirely for free, the number of Pokémon they can store in Champions is highly limited for free-to-play users. Free storage is restricted to double digits, even with small expansions when progressing through the ranks.

Those who purchase the one-off Starter Pack can permanently expand their storage by 50 Pokémon, while those subscribed to a monthly membership can store an additional 1,000 creatures in-game for as long as they’re a paying member.

Members also receive exclusive missions, battle music and more.

Separately, each season offers a Premium Battle Pass with exclusive rewards unlocked through play, such as cosmetics, trainer icons and outfits inspired by other characters. For the current season, players can gradually unlock Canari’s outfit and hairstyle from the latest Pokémon game, Legends: Z-A.

Free-to-play battlers can unlock limited rewards in the free tier as they progress, whilst seeing which premium rewards they are prevented from claiming without paying.

Upon its mobile launch, Pokémon Champions generated $392,000 on day one and grew day-over-day until June 20th, peaking at $597,000. The rest of week one saw three consecutive days of decline, bringing the average daily spend down to approximately $500,000. This small decline is likely a result of the monetisation models in play.

Pokémon Champions doesn’t feature endless purchases for in-game resources, meaning as players get established, those who buy the monthly membership and seasonal battle pass will have little left to spend on until next month.

When a new season starts, a new battle pass becomes available, meaning revenue will likely spike again. Unless UA and installs surge mid-season, it may be unlikely to see significant spending spikes in between.

All players are set back to the base Poké Ball Rank when a new season begins, presenting an opportunity for newcomers to compete without veterans already overwhelming the higher tiers. Naturally, experienced players may perform better and reach Master Ball Rank faster, but this also gives them an incentive to battle their way back to the top.

As more Pokémon are added, those players may also want to experiment with different teams. Purchasing the monthly membership could become increasingly beneficial to overcome storage limitations.

Of course, players engaging on Nintendo and mobile hardware with a linked account may choose to make their purchases on one or the other, meaning the game’s total earnings are likely higher than what’s observed on mobile. Pokémon Champions also spent two months exclusively on Switch and Switch 2, where some players may have paid for a year-long membership up front.

Read more about Pokémon Champions on our sister site, PocketGamer.com.