Sensor Tower : Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Has Made $10 Million So Far

[sinonobu]

Our revenue estimates for the first nine days of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's worldwide availability ($10 million) show that the title ranks third behind Fire Emblem Heroes ($33 million) and Super Mario Run ($24 million) in terms of total player spend for the same period following these titles' global launches. Note that the figures below are gross revenue and that Super Mario Run's total includes both its App Store and Google Play Launches.

In plain terms, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has grossed less than one third as much as Fire Emblem Heroes and less than one half as much as Super Mario Run in the same amount of time post-launch.

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Looking at where Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp's revenue is coming from so far, we found that Japan has accounted for about 86 percent of player spending to date. The second largest share of revenue for the game thus far has come from the United States at about 11 percent of the total. The chart below shows how this spending has broken down as a ratio of average revenue per download.

Japan is far and away the leader by this measure at an average of $4.16 per download so far. In fact, player spending in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp to date in Japan is close to what we were seeing with Fire Emblem Heroes' first nine days there, when it earned an average of $4.60 per download. Fire Emblem Heroes has gone on to gross more than $240 million worldwide at an average of about $20 per download, obviously a tremendous monetization success for Nintendo.

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More on - https://sensortower.com/blog/animal-crossing-pocket-camp-launch-revenue

 

[DecoReturns]

A little extra in Nintendo's pockets.

Wonder what's next for their mobile titles.

 

[Will]

I've been playing since launch and haven't felt the need to spend a single dollar on it so far. I'm not surprised its so far behind Fire Emblem and Mario.

 

[Ashodin]

I kicked a dollar over because Damn has it gotten me and the wife by the genitals

 

[Bakercat]

They give you Leaf tickets like crazy, so I don't see the need to use real money, unless it gets pretty tight on them later.

 

[Deleted member 10629]

A little extra in Nintendo's pockets.

Wonder what's next for their mobile titles.

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I hope its a Donkey Konga game!

 

[jakoo]

If Nintendo starts putting some really interesting premium items up for sale, more interesting then the Tom Nook/K.K. Slider chairs, I can definitely see this number rising.

As of now though, I haven't felt super obligated to kick any money in, and it's hard for me to see why anyone else would.

 

[DeuceGamer]

Aren't mobile games with this type of monetization typically much slower ramping up in terms of monetizing players?

Fire Emblem probably had a lot of people spending early to try and get some of their favorite players while Super Mario Run required a one time payment to unlock the full game. Animal Crossing seems like more of a slow burn.

 

[Zedark]

Looks like a slow start:

Don't know the nature of AC monetisation, though, so it could ramp up as time goes on?

 

[Enduin]

I feel like they're trying to get everyone really invested in their camps early on without much trouble and then they'll slowly make things harder and offer more premium stuff so people feel more enticed to pay up.

 

[cw_sasuke]

These mobile games financing the main games for Switch and more.... good - cant wait to see Fire Emblem on Switch, tight budget probably wont be an issue anymore after the 3DS games and FEH.

Looks like a slow start:

Don't know the nature of AC monetisation, though, so it could ramp up as time goes on?

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Its not a slow start considering what kind of game it is...there is no reason to spend money at all. Meanwhile FEH is a gacha game, so people are more willing to spend to get the latest OP units, compete in arena and co.

 

[Semajer]

I spent some money on the initial one time only deals but I'm not going to spend any more. I hope this title improves awareness for the eventual Switch AC game because I don't see it making much money by itself.

 

[RailWays]

I honestly don't see much enjoyment in AC:Pocket's gameplay loop. Feels like there is more to do in Fire Emblem: Heroes.
Only so much whales can do with tickets.

 

[DecoReturns]

Looks like a slow start:



Don't know the nature of AC monetisation, though, so it could ramp up as time goes on?

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I think people had way to high expectations for animal crossing mobile on the monetization part.

 

[pikachief]

Looks like a slow start:

Don't know the nature of AC monetisation, though, so it could ramp up as time goes on?

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Theres no real pressure to spend money. You can get everything pretty easily in the game without MT.

 

[Starmud]

The max I can see spending is $4 given the two welcome bundles if you want to buy leaf tickets...

The only real two items in the game thus far to encourage in game currency are character chairs and even then you could acquire them free somewhat easy.

I have seen that more Japanese player camps already have holiday event items that require a ton of resources to make, revenue under the current model will likely be tied to event items and if you choose to grind or buy.

Another big revenue jumper would be selling resources to build furniture directly... but for now they've built that into my Nintendo as incentives to grind/play.

AC games build very active communities, I can see the game launching easy on monetization to acquire users and get the brand out there on peoples mind for the switch release. later the milking begins for exclusive content when your left with the fan base. If we see the mobile app tied to the game with exclusives you will see many pay to play to acquire items.

 

[Deleted member 2793]

Aren't mobile games with this type of monetization typically much slower ramping up in terms of monetizing players?

Fire Emblem probably had a lot of people spending early to try and get some of their favorite players while Super Mario Run required a one time payment to unlock the full game. Animal Crossing seems like more of a slow burn.

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Yes, Pocket Camp is aimed at a more casual crowd. It won't reach the heights of stuff like gacha games, but will probably keep making money in a steady pace -- especially with its popularity in Japan. Mario Run was also frontloaded, people paid the premium price at launch and then it declined.

 

[PogiJones]

Yes, non-exploitative monetization makes less money than exploitative monetization. It is known, and these results shouldn't be seen as a failure. They should be seen as normal, as how it would look if the exploitation bubble burst.

 

[Deleted member 21693]

This is very respectable for such a soft monetisation structure.

 

[AllDayDreamin]

This app is fun but doesn't incentivize me to login as much with such limited areas to play in.

 

[Nirolak]

This actually isn't that weird for this genre. These games have a slower monetization ramp. Even the midcore versions of this genre that now make over a billion per year started fairly slowly (which... I'm not sure I'd call this a slow start).

 

[Nitpicker_Red]

This actually isn't that weird for this genre. These games have a slower monetization ramp. Even the midcore versions of this genre that now make over a billion per year started fairly slowly (which... I'm not sure I'd call this a slow start).

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So does that mean that they have experimented with 3 different monetisation methods: the demo+price, the gacha, and the... whatever type of microtransaction this genre is called?

 

[Deleted member 9971]

That's quite some bells! Personally really enjoyed the game so far, i play it daily since launch.

 

[Nirolak]

So does that mean that they have experimented with 3 different monetisation methods: the demo+price, the gacha, and the... whatever type of microtransaction this genre is called?

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The builder (or sometimes """resource allocation""") genre is generally driven by wait timers and special items. However, you first have to hit the point where your wait times are long and you realize you can't afford the special items in time to actually start spending.

By comparison, gacha games often involve people pulling heavily on day one for good units.

 

[Falchion]

I'm sure it'll keep rolling in through all the seasonal events.

 

[Dark Ninja]

There really is no reason to spend money. You can get mostly everything without spending and the wait timers aren't bad either. This is great research for the next main Animal Crossing though there are some things from this id like to see get into the main games.

 

[DeuceGamer]

Yes, Pocket Camp is aimed at a more casual crowd. It won't reach the heights of stuff like gacha games, but will probably keep making money in a steady pace -- especially with its popularity in Japan. Mario Run was also frontloaded, people paid the premium price at launch and then it declined.

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Yea, I was thinking it was normal for this type of game and monetization.

This actually isn't that weird for this genre. These games have a slower monetization ramp. Even the midcore versions of this genre that now make over a billion per year started fairly slowly (which... I'm not sure I'd call this a slow start).

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Thanks for confirming. I thought that was the case so in reality it's gotten off to a pretty good start despite what a straight comparison to the other titles may have you believe initially.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

I did that $0.99 offer that was available for the first three days because I was actually getting some enjoyment out of it and felt a dollar was good payment for it.

Probably won't buy any more leaf tickets as I've pretty much gotten the majority of my playtime with it and will just check in here and there.

 

[ChapterBlack]

can't imagine it cost even a third of that to create and market

 

[LakeEarth]

I'm at level 31, and I'm only now seeing items cost so many resources that I have to avoid building anything else that uses that particular resource. I'm not spending money any time soon though.

 

[Kouriozan]

I'm glad they didn't went full Gacha with Animal Crossing, let's not forget little kids are going to play it.

 

[Piscus]

This is how they get you. No real reason to pay up front, get you invested in the game enough for free, and then you in too deep just in time for when reasons to pay pop up.

 

[CaviarMeths]

Slower start, but yeah, monetization model is different. It should have a long tail. This should catch up to Mario Run rather easily. Don't know about Fire Emblem Heroes, that game is pretty lucrative.

 

[Dyle]

Not a big surprise to me, game isn't nearly as good as FE:H and doesn't have a lot of the really compelling incentives to spend. I don't know if it'll have the legs to become a cash cow with the grindy, uninteresting gameplay, no matter how many times they try to sell us Pietro and Julian. I could totally be wrong though, maybe it will get a strong base of committed whales that stick with it despite its shortcomings

 

[Ohto]

It is a chill game, even with it's MTs. I can dig that.

It is such a nice game. And I got enough free tickets to get one of those chairs for free (not the terrifying naked dog, no sir). Pretty good.

I just like to grind ingredients in this. Haven't bothered much with the crafting yet.

 

[rzmunch]

The builder (or sometimes """resource allocation""") genre is generally driven by wait timers and special items. However, you first have to hit the point where your wait times are long and you realize you can't afford the special items in time to actually start spending.

By comparison, gacha games often involve people pulling heavily on day one for good units.

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What is a successful game of the builder type? Just to have a comparison, thanks.

 

[EndingE]

It is a chill game, even with it's MTs. I can dig that.

It is such a nice game. And I got enough free tickets to get one of those chairs for free (not the terrifying naked dog, no sir). Pretty good.

I just like to grind ingredients in this. Haven't bothered much with the crafting yet.

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I can't stop laughing at "terrifying naked dog" hahaha.

I'm enjoying my time with it, playing at a very slow pace as a time waster on work breaks. I'm glad it's doing well.

 

[halvvapoori]

What is a successful game of the builder type? Just to have a comparison, thanks.

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Gardenscapes and Homescapes are two successful games who regularly rank high in the top grossing charts. To note is that the games aren't exclusively a 'builder' type game, they also incorporate a match 3 game similar to candy crush.

Edit: Maybe Clash of Clans and Game of War can be included as well, besides being heavily reliant PvP, they also incorporate the same mechanics as builder type games where you eventually need to wait a long time to finish building a construction.

 

[Nirolak]

What is a successful game of the builder type? Just to have a comparison, thanks.

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For the casual audience, Gardenscapes and Homescapes and two strong examples.

For the midcore audience, they add in some automated combat elements, but games like Game of War: Fire Age, Mobile Strike, and Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire are still built around the same wait timer principle.

 

[Pimienta]

It should be expected for this kind of game compared to gacha games. Besides, there's barely any premium content atm.

 

[rzmunch]

Gardenscapes and Homescapes are two successful games who regularly rank high in the top grossing charts. To note is that the games aren't exclusively a 'builder' type game, they also incorporate a match 3 game similar to candy crush.

Edit: Maybe Clash of Clans and Game of War can be included as well, besides being heavily reliant PvP, they also incorporate the same mechanics as builder type games where you eventually need to wait a long time to finish building a construction.

Click to shrink...

For the casual audience, Gardenscapes and Homescapes and two strong examples.

For the midcore audience, they add in some automated combat elements, but games like Game of War: Fire Age, Mobile Strike, and Final Fantasy XV: A New Empire are still built around the same wait timer principle.

Click to shrink...

Thanks, Never played this type of hame, so I'll look a bit more to know what future monetization will AC have. Maybe something to reduce the time of construction?