Pokemon is back with a hit new gaming app

With over 60 million downloads and an estimated $180 million in revenue since late October, a new Pokémon mobile game app enjoys worldwide success as the latest incarnation of the hit Nintendo-owned franchise.

Released on October 30, Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket is a virtual version of the collectible card game that has captivated schoolyards since the late 1990s.

Developed by The Pokemon Company, a Nintendo subsidiary, it combines opening "boosters"—the equivalent of sealed card packs—with collecting creatures and engaging in online battles.

"Pokemon TCG Pocket is showing one of the strongest performances of any mobile game of all time," Sam Aune, an analyst at digital market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, told AFP.

The group estimates that it generated around $180 million through the Apple and Google app stores in just six weeks.

Developed by the Japanese games studio Creatures Inc., Pokemon TCG Pocket ranks second among mobile games in first-month revenue, surpassed only by another Pokemon franchise title, Pokemon Go.

The global phenomenon of 2016, Pokemon Go generated over $200 million in its first month and drove millions of players outdoors to hunt for virtual creatures that appeared on their mobile phone screens.

In addition to creating vast online revenues, the new surge in interest in Pikachu and his fellow cast members is spilling over into the offline world.

Sales of physical cards are rising -- and the game is back in fashion among school children.

"It brings players back into the Pokemon brand," explained Frederique Tutt, a toy market expert at Circana, a market research firm. "And physical cards remain the brand's heart; something collectors want to own for playing and trading."

(FILES) A Syrian gamer uses the Pokemon Go application on his mobile to catch a Pokemon amidst the rubble in the besieged rebel-controlled town of Douma, a flashpoint east of the capital Damascus on July 23, 2016. With more than 60 million downloads and nearly 180 million dollars (171 million euros) generated worldwide since the end of October 2024, the mobile game adaptation of Pokémon cards has enjoyed global success, not far from the records of its predecessor.Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP

'Unchanged experience'

Popularised in the 1990s, collectible trading cards have since been adapted into many video games.

Card games have carved out a special place in gamers' hearts, from "Gwent" in The Witcher III to "Hearthstone" in the Warcraft universe.

Pokemon TCG Pocket has "very effectively brought that card pack opening and playing experience to digital," says Simon Carless, founder of the analyst firm GameDiscoverCo.

"It's a very unchanged experience compared to the physical card game -- which was smart, and that's why people love it," he added.

On social media, players have been sharing videos of themselves unveiling new cards or participating in tournaments, with the hashtag #PokemonTCG amassing over 1.5 million posts on TikTok.

Other video game adaptations of the Pokemon trading card universe date back decades.

A Game Boy title was released in Europe in 2000, followed by another for PCs in the early 2010s.

While Pokemon TCG Pocket is free to download, players are encouraged to spend money in-app to acquire more cards.

Sacha Bernard, a 33-year-old teacher from the Paris suburb Creteil, said he was nostalgic for the characters and the "short and fast" gameplay sessions.

"Since it launched, I must have spent around 70 euros," he told AFP. "It's the first time a mobile game has made me spend that money."