By Sagar V. Mankar 
The Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) Pocket has reached a significant milestone, generating over $500 million in revenue within just 97 days. For comparison, the iconic Pokémon Go took 75 days to achieve the same $500 million mark.
According to AppMagic data, the game experienced a dramatic revenue surge following its Space-Time Smackdown update on January 30th, 2025. This expansion introduced over 140 new cards and breathed new life into the mobile gaming platform.
On January 30th alone, daily player spending rocketed to $9 million, effectively doubling the previous day’s earnings. The momentum continued, with revenues climbing to $10.4 million on January 31st and peaking at $11 million on February 1st.
Key Factors Driving Success
Several strategic developments contributed to this remarkable growth:
- Massive Card Expansion: The Space-Time Smackdown update brought the largest card collection since the game’s launch.
- In-Game Trading: In addition to new cards, the update introduced an in-game trading feature, allowing players to exchange cards within their collections.
- Shop Updates: New accessories, limited-time items, and subscription incentives were added to the in-game shop, featuring popular characters like Darkrai and Cynthia.
Challenges and Community Response
However, the trading system feature has faced criticism for its complexity and perceived emphasis on monetization. Players have expressed concerns about the multiple in-game currencies required for trading and restrictions on exchanging higher rarity cards.
The official Pokémon TCG Pocket account acknowledged these concerns, promising to investigate and improve the feature.