The Pokémon Company posts record profit in 2021/22 year ($325 million)

Serebii · May 30, 2022

Today TPC put their financials out

Sales of 204,209,000,000 Yen (approx $1.6bn)
Gross Revenue of 98,035,000,000 Yen (approx $700m)
Operating Income 59,860,000,000 Yen (approx $470m)
Net Profit: 41,392,000,000 Yen (approx $325m)

Dollar value using today's exchange rate

This is a large increase of last year's net profit of 18,630,000,000 Yen (approx $170m in exchange rate at the time)

Here's a chart from Oscar Lemaire showing net profit comparisons in Euros since 2008

https://twitter.com/oscarlemaire/status/1531168081891971074

Now let me preface this by saying:

Most revenue comes from merchandise.
They are not starved of budget in video games or rushed.
"Highest grossing media franchise" is a misnomer due to profit, as you can see in the above chart. Licensees, and so many people in the pot mean profit isn't as high as people think. Their net profit is 20% of their overall sales here.

ILikeFeet · May 30, 2022

Not exactly related but I wonder when putting Toho on the board will bear fruit. Kinda figured we'd hear about another pokemon movie by now

Mekanos · May 30, 2022

ILikeFeet said:
Not exactly related but I wonder when putting Toho on the board will bear fruit. Kinda figured we'd hear about another pokemon movie by now

Detective Pikachu did okay but didn't exactly set the world on fire. If the Mario movie is a success they'll probably try another movie with the IP, maybe something more traditionally in line with the games/anime.

Heruderu · May 30, 2022

Serebii said:
Most revenue comes from merchandise.
They are not starved of budget in video games or rushed.
"Highest grossing media franchise" is a misnomer due to profit, as you can see in the above chart. Licensees, and so many people in the pot mean profit isn't as high as people think. Their net profit is 20% of their overall gross revenue here.

Isn't their net profit closer to 50% of the gross revenue? By the numbers, it's 20% of the sales total.

HK-48 · May 30, 2022

sweet

viewtifulkenka · May 30, 2022

What can explain the big discrepencies in Oscar's charts between the 2008-09 - 2015-16 period and now? Accounting methods?

Sure they haven't figured out how to profitable waking up one day in the morning. Knowing Oscar, these figures must be indeed correct. But they are puzzling.

blueredandgold · May 30, 2022

I haven't even finished Arcseus yet. I will soon. Maybe.

Katmeister · May 30, 2022

The Pokemon Company's days are numbered soon the Pokemon killer game Num-Nutz which has features fans actually want like a hard mode, seamless online multiplayer, an open world and a gritty story with a sad dad and his bearded son will release.

ILikeFeet · May 30, 2022

Mekanos said:
Detective Pikachu did okay but didn't exactly set the world on fire. If the Mario movie is a success they'll probably try another movie with the IP, maybe something more traditionally in line with the games/anime.

I still don't know how making something similar to the games/cartoon won't produce its own issues when a more bespoke one off couldn't cut it

Serebii · May 30, 2022

Heruderu said:
Isn't their net profit closer to 50% of the gross revenue? By the numbers, it's 20% of the sales total.

Sorry, that's what I meant

viewtifulkenka said:
What can explain the big discrepencies in Oscar's charts between the 2008-09 - 2015-16 period and now? Accounting methods?

Sure they haven't figured out how to profitable waking up one day in the morning. Knowing Oscar, these figures must be indeed correct. But they are puzzling.

Pokémon GO and the bringing of Pokémon back into mainstream with huge constant merch pushes since Pokémania 2.0. The TCG has hit new highs the last two years too

Damien1990 · May 30, 2022

viewtifulkenka said:
What can explain the big discrepencies in Oscar's charts between the 2008-09 - 2015-16 period and now? Accounting methods?

Sure they haven't figured out how to profitable waking up one day in the morning. Knowing Oscar, these figures must be indeed correct. But they are puzzling.

In the replies Oscar mentions Pokémon Go, which launched in 2016.

It's complicated to know how it happens exactly but in principle, those who make the most money by products:
Console games: Nintendo
Cards: Creatures
Derivative products (including mobile games, therefore Pokémon Go): Pokémon Company

Mekanos · May 30, 2022

ILikeFeet said:
I still don't know how making something similar to the games/cartoon won't produce its own issues when a more bespoke one off couldn't cut it

That's the job of movie producers to figure out!

behOemoth · May 30, 2022

That effect of Pokémon Go is stunning.

Bardoon · May 30, 2022

The jump between 2015-16 and all the years after is absolutely insane.

Damien1990 · May 30, 2022

behOemoth said:
That effect of Pokémon Go is stunning.

And I'm guessing Pokémon Unite accounts for it doubling from 20/21 to 21/22

Serebii · May 30, 2022

behOemoth said:
That effect of Pokémon Go is stunning.

Right? It's basically brought PokéMania back and it's holding. TCG is helping as the TCG is huge right now

Damien1990 said:
And I'm guessing Pokémon Unite accounts for it doubling from 20/21 to 21/22

I wouldn't think so

nsilvias · May 30, 2022

its baffling that pokemons profits were so low before 2016 then again none of the kids in the family in 2012-2014 cared for pokemon.

Serebii · May 30, 2022

nsilvias said:
its baffling that pokemons profits were so low before 2016 then again none of the kids in the family in 2012-2014 cared for pokemon.

At that time, Pokémon was doing fine with games, but movies were dropping each year, anime was doing ok, TCG was doing well, but nothing was really break out and merch wasn't as plentiful

GO really helped rejuvenate the franchise and since then they've really been pushing the boat out, especially with their collaborations

Aleh · May 30, 2022

Also before the Switch even the games weren't as profitable considering the lower price

Dyle · May 30, 2022

No surprise last year was massive considering they released 4 new games (that's the most they've ever had in a fiscal year right?) while having multiple active games (Go, MasterSex, ReMix, Home). Add in the continued excellent sales of all the other Switch games, the insane popularity of the trading cards, and continued big merch sales and it's no wonder they're doing as well as they are

Ehoavash · May 30, 2022

Crazy how sonic is getting another movie In 2 years...a whole trilogy of movies yet sonic 1 or 2 still hasn't outgrossed detective Pikachu..... worldwide at the box office...

But we can't get another pokemon movie off ground ....

Who is it to blame?iirc pokemon company kept all merchandise rights for the movie to themselves without sharing with WB/legendary ..I think Sega allowed paramount merch sales of the movie

entremet · May 30, 2022

How were the Sinnoh remakes? In terms of sales and overall reception from fans?

Oswen · May 30, 2022

Pokémon, in all its prestige, was back being a mostly videogame with some tcg affair after the original Pokémania died down; movies weren't doing much and the anime didn't fare much better.

After GO, Pokémon became mainstream again and the notable difference is that it managed to remain as such.
Pokémon merchandise is basically everywhere and has been for a few years, collaborations and spinoffs aren't that outlandish and things like finding Pikachu and friends on a bottle of Ice Tea like in '99 actually happens again.
The games and TCG greatly benefitted for that since their communities are booming, the sales of Sword/Shield and other mainline games speak for themselves.

TPC struck (even more) gold and are not letting it go again this time.

Maple · May 30, 2022

I'm really curious how well Pokemon Home is doing in terms of the subscriber count. TPC structured everything to revolve around Home to incentivize subscriptions but I haven't heard anything on how many subs they have.

And maybe with those record profits along with the acquisition of the printing company that makes the TCG they can actually increase the quality of the trading cards going forward.

ArchedThunder · May 30, 2022

Aleh said:
Also before the Switch even the games weren't as profitable considering the lower price

The games before Switch were a lot cheaper to make. The cost passed on to the consumer doesn't directly relate to how profitable a game will be.

NekoNeko · May 30, 2022

Mekanos said:
Detective Pikachu did okay but didn't exactly set the world on fire. If the Mario movie is a success they'll probably try another movie with the IP, maybe something more traditionally in line with the games/anime.

it did better than both Sonic movies and they will happily churn out a few more sequels.

ArchedThunder · May 30, 2022

Ehoavash said:
Crazy how sonic is getting another movie In 2 years...a whole trilogy of movies yet sonic 1 or 2 still hasn't outgrossed detective Pikachu..... worldwide at the box office...

But we can't get another pokemon movie off ground ....

Who is it to blame?iirc pokemon company kept all merchandise rights for the movie to themselves without sharing with WB/legendary ..I think Sega allowed paramount merch sales of the movie

An important thing to keep in mind is that Detective Pikachu had a larger budget and they clearly spent a ton on marketing. So while Detective Pikachu had a larger box office turnout, the Sonic movies are probably more profitable.

Aleh · May 30, 2022

ArchedThunder said:
The games before Switch were a lot cheaper to make. The cost passed on to the consumer doesn't directly relate to how profitable a game will be.

Cheaper to make, sure, but not 20 bucks less per copy cheaper

ILikeFeet · May 30, 2022

NekoNeko said:
it did better than both Sonic movies and they will happily churn out a few more sequels.

if the merchandising thing is true, then the lack of partners coming back would put a damper in sequels

Anth0ny · May 30, 2022

LA doing work

What a great game

Tsuyu · May 30, 2022

What's Nilantic split for Pokemon Go? I would expect The Pokemon Company to make much more money based on how successful that mobile game is.

bickieditches · May 30, 2022

That's actually way less than I would have expected? Pokemon is one of the biggest franchises of all time - is it really only doing 1.6B in revenue each year and 300M profit?

Rotimi · May 30, 2022

Serebii said:
At that time, Pokémon was doing fine with games, but movies were dropping each year, anime was doing ok, TCG was doing well, but nothing was really break out and merch wasn't as plentiful

GO really helped rejuvenate the franchise and since then they've really been pushing the boat out, especially with their collaborations

Hey do you have any idea how the profits of mobile games are shared to the three overlords. It's clear from the consoles games Nintendo takes the largest pie due to having a hand in many things outside Japan. Really curious about how much they make from Pokémon Go

Serebii · May 30, 2022

Rotimi said:
Hey do you have any idea how the profits of mobile games are shared to the three overlords. It's clear from the consoles games Nintendo takes the largest pie due to having a hand in many things outside Japan. Really curious about how much they make from Pokémon Go

I believe reports from early on showed Nintendo get 17% of that revenue. It's not entirely clear as only Nintendo is a publicly traded company out of the 4, so we don't really get details

defaltoption · May 30, 2022

entremet said:
How were the Sinnoh remakes? In terms of sales and overall reception from fans?

Sales? Incredible one of the best selling games in the franchise. Reception from fans? The game sucked ass and is easily the worst remake but doesn't matter we all bought it anyway.

entremet · May 30, 2022

defaltoption said:
Sales? Incredible one of the best selling games in the franchise. Reception from fans? The game sucked ass and is easily the worst remake but doesn't matter we all bought it anyway.

What did fans hate about it? The chibi style?

Kraq · May 30, 2022

It's surprising how little profit Pokemon was making until 2016, and even they posted a loss in two years. During the 2009-10 FY they saw the release of both Platinum in Europe and HGSS everywhere. Pokemon Go really turned this franchise around.

Serebii · May 30, 2022

entremet said:
What did fans hate about it? The chibi style?

It didn't fix a lot of the issues with the originals. It was a slog to play through and it was glitchy as hell

defaltoption · May 30, 2022

entremet said:
What did fans hate about it? The chibi style?

Hate is a strong word as of course taste various but most complaints ive seen are about the art style and how the game is a nearly one to one remake inlucing the worst parts of diamond and pearl instead of being an improved upon remake of platinum. Most expected Platinum but with the gameplay of Sword and Shield and instead we got Diamond and Pearl on switch. Plus is was supper buggy.

Golden Darkness · May 30, 2022

Mekanos said:
Detective Pikachu did okay but didn't exactly set the world on fire. If the Mario movie is a success they'll probably try another movie with the IP, maybe something more traditionally in line with the games/anime.

Who knows if the desire for a film is still out there? For the anime style, there's been only one film in 2020. Who knows if there be another anime film to tie in with the next generation of games.

Charizard · May 30, 2022

BDSP are my fave remakes despite the jank TBH. It played way better than the originals for me thanks to the Exp Share and Underground making the originally super grindy level curve a lot easier to deal with. But I can see why some don't like it, to each their own.

Also I didn't run into any major bugs in my playthrough so *shrugs*.

ashm · May 30, 2022

Kraq said:
It's surprising how little profit Pokemon was making until 2016, and even they posted a loss in two years. During the 2009-10 FY they saw the release of both Platinum in Europe and HGSS everywhere. Pokemon Go really turned this franchise around.

The graph displays The Pokémon Company's profit, not the Pokémon IP's gross profit, or even the Pokémon IP owners' gross profit. The Pokémon IP is owned by Nintendo, Creatures and Game Freak. There are also countless other beneficiaries via licensing, such as TV Tokyo, OLM, Takara Tomy, Bandai, and more.

For context, TPC as a company does not own any portion of the IP, and its main operations are management, licensing, marketing and localisation (some development and production may be present in their western subsidiary, TPCi). It started mainly as an extension of Creatures's operations by Tsukenazu Ishihara, the former Creatures head. While Go's release did seriously change the franchise's course, changes in TPC's profitability is most likely mainly due to internal structural changes. TPC's role has changed over the last 5 years or so, and more capital is likely propagated to them for investments, campaigns and funding R&D. As an example, take note of how Pokémon's marketing strategy has changed since the 20th anniversary (even shortly before Pokémon Go), with Super Bowl ads, expansion in real-world events (e.g., Worlds going from a TCG/VGC event to a full on eSports competition), and more. Other examples include Detective Pikachu, Pokémon Unite and, notably, the recent acquisition of Millennium Print by TPCi.

Kalor · May 30, 2022

bickieditches said:
That's actually way less than I would have expected? Pokemon is one of the biggest franchises of all time - is it really only doing 1.6B in revenue each year and 300M profit?

Pokemon has so many companies involved and this is just The Pokemon Companies part. The actual numbers would be higher but that's split between Nintendo, Creatures and any other licensing partners.

808s & Villainy · May 30, 2022

Go was basically a cultural phenomenon and even now still is massiy. Is there any other IP that has had that type of moment twice in its lifetime?? As in basically took the world by storm, died down a little bit, then did it again decades later?

Kraq · May 30, 2022

ashm said:
The graph displays The Pokémon Company's profit, not the Pokémon IP's gross profit, or even the Pokémon IP owners' gross profit. The Pokémon IP is owned by Nintendo, Creatures and Game Freak. There are also countless other beneficiaries via licensing, such as TV Tokyo, OLM, Takara Tomy, Bandai, and more.

For context, TPC as a company does not own any portion of the IP, and its main operations are management, licensing, marketing and localisation (some development and production may be present in their western subsidiary, TPCi). It started mainly as an extension of Creatures's operations by Tsukenazu Ishihara, the former Creatures head. While Go's release did seriously change the franchise's course, changes in TPC's profitability is most likely mainly due to internal structural changes. TPC's role has changed over the last 5 years or so, and more capital is likely propagated to them for investments, campaigns and funding R&D. As an example, take note of how Pokémon's marketing strategy has changed since the 20th anniversary (even shortly before Pokémon Go), with Super Bowl ads, expansion in real-world events (e.g., Worlds going from a TCG/VGC event to a full on eSports competition), and more. Other examples include Detective Pikachu, Pokémon Unite and, notably, the recent acquisition of Millennium Print by TPCi.

Thanks for this great post. Initially I thought that because TPCi's profits were down, then that had some correlation with Pokemon in general, but this makes a lot of sense.

Biosnake · May 30, 2022

and the mainline games will finally be great again

ILikeFeet · May 30, 2022

Biosnake said:
and the mainline games will finally be great again

Legends is already great

Biosnake · May 30, 2022

ILikeFeet said:
Legends is already great

yeah and hopefully S/V copy as much as they can from it

Jbone115 · May 30, 2022

808s & Villainy said:
Go was basically a cultural phenomenon and even now still is massiy. Is there any other IP that has had that type of moment twice in its lifetime?? As in basically took the world by storm, died down a little bit, then did it again decades later?

Star Wars has done it 3 times at this point lol

Serebii · May 30, 2022

ILikeFeet said:
Legends is already great

As is SWSH :)

The Pokémon Company posts record profit in 2021/22 year ($325 million)

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