Pokémon TCG Pocket partners with McDonald’s as player spending hits record low

The Pokémon Company and DeNA’s digital card game phenomenon Pokémon TCG Pocket has teamed up with McDonald’s in the US, rewarding players with in-game items in exchange for a Happy Meal purchase.

Those items include 24 Pack Hourglasses and 12 Wonder Hourglasses, received as purchase rewards, enabling a player to open two additional booster packs in-game and skip a 12-hour wait for a Wonder Pick card.

During the collaboration period, running through "late February", US Happy Meals will also feature a range of 15 different physical Pokémon cards, including original favourites like Pikachu, Charizard and Dragonite, in addition to newcomers like Miraidon and Roaring Moon.

"Don't miss out on claiming your #PokemonTCGPocket rewards with your nuggies," the official Pokémon TCG Pocket account tweeted.

Into a slump

This McDonald’s promotion is far from Pokémon’s first foray into chain collaborations, but it has come during Pocket’s worst-performing period since global release - at $57.3 million in gross player spending so far this January, according to AppMagic estimates.

While still a mighty amount in the context of the wider mobile games industry, the figure currently means an average of $2.6 million in daily earnings for TCG Pocket this January, down from a $5.4 million daily average in December and $6.8 million in November.

Furthermore, Pocket recorded its worst day since global launch for player spending just yesterday, January 22nd, at almost $1.6 million. By comparison, its most lucrative day, December 21st, saw earnings hit $8.7 million.

Despite its flagging earnings this month, largely attributable to an absence of new card packs so far this month, Pocket's incredibly strong launch fast-tracked it to becoming the second-biggest mobile Pokémon game out there with only Pokémon Go remaining in front.