Commentary
Pokemon Go Players Spending Real Money
- by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, August 16, 2016
So far, players have spent (wasted?) more than $250 million on coins, eggs, incubators, and other virtual items that help them advance in the game.
Specifically, in-app payments surpassed $268 million just five weeks after the game’s launch.
More impressive still, about a fifth of Pokémon Go players have shown a willingness to spend money on the game, according to YouGov’s survey of about 50,000 consumer in the U.S., U.K., and Germany.
Stateside, the share of players spending money on the game is actually closer to 30%, YouGov finds.
Specifically, of the 34.3 million U.S. consumers that have downloaded the app since its launch, 30.8 million have played it within the past week -- and, more to the point, more than 10 million have made in-app purchases.
The question, of course, is how long Pokémon Go maker Niantic Labs can keep people opening their wallets and purses.
Games aren’t known for their longevity, of course. Three months after they are installed, just 3% of users make time in their day for the average gaming app, by SimilarWeb’s calculation.
This column was originally published in Moblog on August 12, 2016.
Gavin O'Malley edits MediaPost's Mobile Marketing Daily and MoBlog column. Follow him: @mp_gavin. You can reach Gavin at gavin@mediapost.com.
I confess, I have bought balls a few times. Then again, I also spent money on Farmville and Candy Crush, both of which I ended up quitting because they stopped being fun after a while. I could get by playing PG free if I was less impatient, lol. I think this game has way more longevity than most other games out there. I love that it's making eveyrone who plays it walk more, which is a big deal in Detroit where everyone drives EVERYWHERE.