Pokémon Go has seen a resurgence in popularity in the past week due to a time-limited Halloween event.
Fans of the Pokémon Go app spent over $56 million in Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store during the week-long event, more than doubling the average spend from the previous week according to research firm Sensor Tower.
Using incentives such as bonus in-game ‘candy’ for special events is expected to become part of developer Niantic’s strategy to reignite interest in the game, which has been downloaded over half a billion times as of early September.
Features planned for future updates, including battles between players and the trading of Pokémon characters, are also set to encourage users to return to the game, which had seen a significant decline in popularity prior to the Halloween event.
From a peak of 27 million downloads a day when the app was first released, daily downloads fell to about 700,000 as of September. While popularity has declined, the remaining dedicated fanbase is expected to help Pokémon Go reach US$1 billion in revenue by the end of the year.
The Halloween event briefly pushed Pokémon Go back to the top of the charts, an encouraging sign for Niantic and The Pokémon Company.
