Even with everything that's happened in recent years, particularly the pandemic, Pokemon continues to be a popular video game franchise. The Pokemon Company is currently celebrating Pokemon's 25th Anniversary since the game franchise's beginnings in 1996 to the present year.
There was even a recently released video highlighting many of the biggest hits from the Pokemon gaming franchise, from the release of the original Pokemon Red and Blue games to the latest Pokemon Sword and Shield games. While this came out, there was news recently shared about the Pokemon franchise's financial details from last year.
The information comes from the Japanese government's Official Gazette and video game consultant Dr. Serkan Toto. According to the report, the Pokemon franchise has made approximately 120 billion yen, or $1.1 billion US, from the last fiscal year alone that ended on February 28, 2021. It also has an operating profit of 27.8 billion yen, $254 million US, with a net profit of 18.6 billion yen, or $170 million US.
This is partly due to the increased spending in games like the mobile game Pokemon GO, which saw record sales from player spending alone last year that totaled to $1 billion. The game had accumulated this revenue across the first 10 months in 2020. It was mostly due to the game's new events, Mega Evolutions, remote raid bosses and invites, the updated egg pools, and more content being added to the game.
Another contributing factor was the release of the expansion pass for the recent Pokemon Sword and Shield games, which featured two DLC packs for players to purchase. What's also notable about this is that it's reportedly the first time that the Pokemon Company has publicly disclosed its sales numbers. This is mainly because the Pokemon Company is a private company and is not obligated to reveal a full breakdown of its financials.
On top of that, this is the first time the Official Gazette showed the company's sales numbers and the operating net profit numbers as well. According to Dr. Serkan Toto's post, the Official Gazette has previously disclosed sales numbers for the Pokemon Company before, but they usually averaged to $170 million US. The company's net profit also increased by 21.2% year-on-year, and it is currently in its 24th fiscal year.
In his post, Toto mentioned that it wouldn't be shocking if the Pokemon Company's sales numbers increase during the current fiscal year. Especially with the launch of New Pokemon Snap back in April. Also, the upcoming releases for Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl in November and Pokemon Legends: Arceus in January 2022.
Source: Nintendo Life