Pokémon TCG Pocket developer sees profits soar over 8000% in game sector 

DeNA, co-developer of The Pokémon Company’s Pokémon TCG Pocket, has published its consolidated financial results for the first three quarters of the fiscal year (April to December 2024). According to the report, the Tokyo-based company saw a huge turnaround in profitability thanks to the strong performance of Pokémon TCG Pocket, which launched on October 30 last year. 

In the same period last fiscal year, DeNA reported a net loss of 31,233 million yen (over $205 thousand dollars) and an operating loss of 27,626 million (over $108 thousand dollars). This year, these losses have been turned around by a significant margin – with DeNA seeing 15,755 million yen in net profit and 20,979 million yen in operating profit (GameBiz). 

The biggest contributor to these figures was DeNA’s game sector, which saw sales increase by 29.4% and profit increase by a whopping 8126.8%. DeNa notes that a big contributor to this was Pokémon TCG Pocket, which surpassed 60 million downloads worldwide in only a month and a half since its launch. According to the developer, the new Pokémon app is seeing a retention rate much higher than that of previous titles, as well as a high number of Premium Pass subscribers (ITmedia). 

Although its latest trading feature has prompted some criticism, Pokémon TCG Pocket has been a huge commercial success so far, no doubt aided by players like Hajimesyacho, who have hit the game’s spending limit every day since its launch. DeNA has announced that due to the unpredictable trends of the game, it cannot offer a reasonable financial forecast for the full fiscal year. However, the company expects sales and revenue, particularly in its game sector, to surpass the previous year significantly. 

Pokémon TCG Pocket is available for iOS and Android.