Despite some deep problems with the initial launch and a steep drop-off in players after the novelty began to fade, Pokémon GO can't be called anything less than a massive success. Aside from securing a spot (if only a fleeting one) in wider pop culture, Niantic's augmented reality monster-catching game has also managed to warrant partnerships from real-world retail stores and secure no small amount of income from in-app purchases. How much isn't precisely known by anyone except Apple, Google, and Niantic, but one analytics firm has a guess. And that guess has nine zeroes in it.

Sensor Tower, a firm dedicated to app analysis for the Play Store and App Store, posted its estimated player data in a blog earlier this week. The firm estimates that between iOS and Android players, Pokémon GO surpassed 1.0 billion dollars in revenue in the seven months since its launch. Not only is that impressive in its own right, it's an amazingly fast time for the accomplishment - Sensor Tower estimates that Supercell's Clash Royale, a popular card-based strategy game, is only just now approaching the same milestone after 10 months on both platforms. App Annie had a similar conclusion about Pokémon GO's revenue last month.

Exactly how much Pokémon GO has earned versus its development and significant maintenance and update costs isn't known. Neither is the split between the various parties that would be earning that money - Google and Apple would both take 30% of revenue from their respective stores, with the rest split between developer Niantic and the Pokémon license holders Nintendo and Game Freak. However much money they're all enjoying at the moment, it seems like a safe bet that Pokémon GO is sticking around. The game isn't bringing in the same numbers it was at launch, but it's still estimated to be earning more than a million dollars every day.

Source: Sensor Tower

[EMBED_APP]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticlabs.pokemongo[/EMBED_APP]