The Pokémon Company has revealed in the Japanese gazette that it recorded a profit of 15.367 billion yen ($142.7 million) during its last fiscal year, which ended on February 28th, 2020. That’s an increase in profit of 14.8% over its previous fiscal year.
Pokémon GO and Pokémon Sword/Shield both played a major role in the company’s earnings last year. While an exact breakdown hasn’t been provided, mobile insights firm Sensor Tower estimated in January that Pokémon GO had its best year ever in 2019, with nearly $900 million earned in revenue. Meanwhile, Pokémon Sword/Shield, which launched in November 2019, saw over 16 million units sold by the end of the year, and have gone on to outsell the last several Pokémon games in a matter of months.
Additionally, the Pokémon Center company, which is part of the Pokémon group, netted 174 million yen ($1.6 million) in profits—up 55% from the prior fiscal year.
This makes last year the second-most profitable fiscal year for The Pokémon Company. Its most profitable year was March 2016 – Feb 2017 —the year Pokémon GO launched—during which the company earned 15.921 billion yen in profit.
Major updates are underway for both Pokémon GO and Pokémon Sword/Shield. Pokémon GO is currently in the process of rolling out the fifth generation of Pokémon (from Pokemon Black/White) and will see its first ever digital “GO Fest” in 2020, which will allow trainers from anywhere in the world to participate. Meanwhile, Pokémon Sword/Shield are due to to receive their first DLC expansion later this month, with a second expansion following later in the year.
Source: Kanpou via Gamebiz.jp (2)
