Spending on Pokémon

A stunning fact was revealed recently on how people play Pokémon, in particular how people spend for Pokémon. Data for in-game purchases on Pokémon Go indicate that the top two spenders for items are the United States and Japan - being first and second respectively - while all other countries spend one-fifth of what they spend, or even less. While this spending data is only limited to Pokémon Go, it may help to give an indication of how people spend for Pokémon in general.

If anything, this helps to indicate that Pokémon is big not only in its home country of Japan, but also the United States. People and players in both countries will spend a lot on Pokémon games and stuff beyond those games, due to its sheer popularity. This massive spending also sustains things like tournaments and merchandise, which leads to even more spending. It seems that this cycle will remain as such, as long as interest remains high.

But even outside these two areas, there is indication that spending on Pokémon is considerably high. Australia wouldn't have its VGC tournaments if it weren't for spending by players, which would also be the case for non-Japanese East Asian countries. Germany, which took a distant third in Pokémon Go spending, similarly wouldn't have its special event if it weren't for the money raked in. Here too, there is high interest which leads to high spending.

What does this mean for countries on the lesser end of the scale? It does seem to mean that spending is low, but it's a relative thing, because there are not as many people and there are not as many fans of Pokémon. Interest may be high, but only among Pokémon fans. So they may spend a lot, but the paucity of people makes it seem low. This may only become significant if the numbers of fans increase.

Thus it may not be the amount of spending that's important, but the people and interest that contribute to that spending. Anywhere in the world, there are sure to be fans of Pokémon, in particular those of high interest in it. Those fans will be sure to furnish high amounts of money no matter what. It's just a matter of how they relate to each other, and how this relates to Pokémon in general for everyone.

One year ago: A Pokémon Forum Persona