Ever. Apple confirmed the record, but didn’t have any specific numbers to share.
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Pokémon Go, the augmented reality game that might as well be everyone’s second job, has become the most downloaded mobile app in its first week of release in the history of the App Store. The game has also sat comfortable in Apple’s top free and top grossing charts in the App Store, beating out mainstays like Game of War, Candy Crush Saga, Facebook Messenger, and Snapchat. Other metrics of success for an app launch, like whether or not the app consistently works, are … up for debate.
Users in the United States are spending far more time playing the game than they are using Facebook or WhatsApp, according to app analytics firm Sensor Tower.
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Earlier this week, an analyst at Needham & Co estimated that Pokemon Go could bring in $3 billion in revenue for Apple over the next one to two years. Niantic is probably pretty happy with the reportedly millions of dollars a day in sales, though, as should be Apple and Google, who take significant cuts of in-app purchases. The same can be said for app updates, but Google is trying to change that with some improvements they’re making to the Play Store. Perhaps Apple will divulge more details around the Pokemon GO phenomenon, but at the very least it’s interesting to see how many people jumped on the download bandwagon once the game’s popularity started to spread like wildfire in its first week out. The firm also says it has already earned more than $35 million in net revenue.
