Pokémon Go Fest is a big contributor to local economies
Go out there and buy!
- Pokemon Go Fest 2024 contributed over $200m to local economies
- That's in hot spots of Madrid, New York and Sendai!
- The community events have been a major success for Niantic, and even saw a proposal!
Since its release, Pokémon Go has commended a tremendous amount of loyalty from fans of Niantic's digital monsters the world over! This has made it an extremely popular way to meet new people, as massive community events see hordes of people descend on local hotspots. And it's been good for local economies to boot.
Yes, according to new data, Niantic's Pokémon Go Fest events contributed a whopping $200m to local economies in cities where these gatherings took place. This includes major tourist hotspots like Madrid, as well as New York and Sendai.
Of course, Pokémon Go Fest hasn't been short on quirky stories regardless, such as proposals between Go-mad couples. But this latest data drawn from the folks over at Statista certainly gives Niantic a reason to be smug, and perhaps a reason for other cities to mull over officially inviting them in?
The economic impact of Pokemon Go shouldn't be taken lightly - this is, after all, a major contributing factor to any big event. Local governments are always wary to see what is making a big impact, and this can lead to official support or endorsement, as well as greater interest generally as a by-product.
You only need to look as far as our contributor Jupiter Hadley's coverage of the festivities in Madrid to see how Pokemon Go fans crisscrossed the city, no doubt contributing to many sales of ice cream and soda in the sweltering heat.
Now could this lead to much change in-game? Perhaps, after Covid, there was significant shakiness on how much Niantic would lean back into encouraging the IRL nature of their hit AR creature collector, and although they've maintained some of the popular tweaks to features like Raids, I wouldn't be surprised if they take this as a sign to push back into the real world a bit more.
