Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has a "very high retention rate compared to other DeNA games"

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has seen a "very high retention rate compared to other DeNA games", the developer stated in its Q3 financials.

After officially surpassing 60 million downloads in December 2024 – within six weeks of global launch – Pokémon TCG Pocket is still being played by "a wide variety of users" who are "enjoying and engaging with the game on a daily basis".

DeNA also stated that "a large number" of users have signed up to TCG Pocket’s premium subscription. The service enables players to open more card packs per day and accumulate extra resources, as well as access exclusive card binders featuring popular characters and other customisation options.

"Major contribution"

DeNA has generated ¥50.6 billion ($327.7m) in revenue from its games business over the first three quarters of its 2024 fiscal year, up 29% year-on-year. Games division profits surged by 8,126.8% year-over-year.

DeNA made ¥18.6bn ($120.4m) in profit from its games business in Q3 alone, the same quarter that TCG Pocket was released.

By comparison, the segment made just ¥1.5bn ($9.7m) profit in Q2 and ¥900m ($5.8m) in Q1. Last Q3, the segment made a loss of ¥200m ($1.3m).

DeNA confirmed TCG Pocket’s influence on its financials, stating it made a "major contribution" to rising in-app spending and games segment profit.

Pokémon battle

The scale of this Q3 rise is particularly noteworthy when considering the company’s other Pokémon title, Pokémon Masters EX, celebrated its fifth anniversary in Q2. The celebration leveraged many fan-favourite characters and Pokémon in the game’s gacha system, with limited-time availability and low pull rates making them unprecedentedly difficult to obtain.

While this likely contributed to Q2’s rise over Q1, driving player spending on Masters’ gacha, Q3’s surge with TCG Pocket’s launch was stronger still.

"Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has performed well, and other titles also contributed, which led to the results announced today," DeNA shared during its operating results Q&A.

"We have worked on many titles over the years, and it is clear that this title is being enjoyed by a truly large number of users. We will be keeping an eye on the trends going forward."

AppMagic estimates suggest that Pokémon TCG Pocket has already surpassed $500m in gross player spending, making it the second-biggest mobile Pokémon title after Go. It was also among the most lucrative launches of 2024 despite releasing so late into the year.

However it should be noted that not all of that revenue has landed in DeNA’s pockets, as proceeds are split between the developer, The Pokémon Company and Creatures Inc.