Pikmin Bloom has arrived, and the new mobile game from Niantic and Nintendo is off to a good start. Pikmin Bloom launched on October 26. The spin-off Pikmin title that is in some ways a fitness app more than a game has an opportunity to find success on a new platform and introduce new fans to the Pikmin series. The brand new augmented reality game appears to be doing just that.
With the game being relatively new, there is a lot to be excited about with Pikmin Bloom. The game has its own spin on the Niantic AR walking game formula, as players grow and pick Pikmin, collect seeds, send Pikmin on expeditions, and more. After just a few weeks, there appears to be a solid interest in the game thus far.
According to data from Sensor Tower, Pikmin Bloom has been downloaded 2 million times since releasing two weeks ago. A big portion of those downloads came from Japan, a location that is fond of the Pikmin series, with 864 thousand downloads. That makes Japan the country with the most downloads for Pikmin Bloom, with the US and UK coming in second and third respectively.
While Pikmin Bloom has not reached the same numbers as the 75 million downloads that Pokemon GO saw in its first two weeks, the franchise is far less known. The game can reach milestone heights while not being the worldwide phenomenon that Pikmon GO was and in some ways continues to be. Pikmin is also less popular of an IP than Harry Potter, and the Niantic developed Harry Potter: Wizards Unite reached 12.4 million downloads in its first two weeks.
In terms of the type of money the game is bringing in, the Sensor Tower data claims that Pikmin Bloom made around $473 thousand in its first two weeks. Those numbers are again a far cry from some of the other Niantic titles, but it is likely that Nintendo and Niantic projected Pikmin Bloom to not be able to compete with something like Pokemon GO. An entirely different Nintendo mobile game in Dr. Mario World was just shut down recently. The game saw high download numbers as well in the early stages, but the design formula didn't allow the title to be financially successful and sustainable, and therefore Nintendo pulled the plug on it. The hope is that Pikmin Bloom will be around for the long haul.
Pikmin Bloom is available now for Android and iOS.
Source: Eurogamer