Harry Potter Wizards Unite has not turned out to be the money earner that many were expecting, at least in comparison to Pokemon Go.
The hugely anticipated Harry Potter mobile game finally released last month, and the long build up to the game meant there was plenty of hype heading into it’s official launch.
Revenue figures
However, while it has been a success in its own right, its first month’s figures have paled in comparison to Pokemon Go’s. According to Sensor Tower, their revenue in the first month after its release was estimated to be $300 million. Comparatively, Harry Potter Wizards Unite made $12 million – 25 times less based on estimates.
Number of downloads
Elsewhere, according to the Guinness World Records website, Pokemon Go set a record as the most downloaded mobile game in its first month with 130 million, although other places have this number higher.
In comparison, Harry Potter Wizards Unite has been downloaded 15 million times. This figure comes from GamesIndustry who also claim “Harry Potter is a more popular brand than Pokemon overall.”
Harry Potter bigger than Pokemon?
Their reasoning behind this is a quote from Niantic CEO, John Hanke who said: “Harry Potter’s a bigger franchise in terms of global awareness and fanbase than Pokemon was, so there’s huge potential there, it’s one of the only big franchises that has more female than male fans.”
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It is difficult to argue with the CEO of the developer who make both games but Google trends analysis suggests otherwise. Over the last 12 months the term “Pokemon” has received around two-and-a-half times more search volume than “Harry Potter”.
Regardless, this hasn’t translated into the same ridiculous levels of success Pokemon Go had – but who could be surprised. Pokemon Go seemed to strike a chord with kids who were new to Pokemon and the older generation who played the original Pokemon games as children.
Today, Pokemon Go has generated more than $2.6 billion, a seemingly unobtainable figure for other games.
It might have been the perfect storm for commercial success that even a giant game like Harry Potter Wizards Unite will be unable to replicate.
