Pokémon Go’s revenues are ‘unprecedented’ and show Nintendo’s brand power

As people around the United States gather at parks and other public spaces to capture and train their augmented-reality creatures in Pokémon Go, the three companies responsible for the the mobile app are probably having a difficult time counting all of their money.

Pokémon Go debuted on Wednesday in the United States after launching in Australia and New Zealand the night before, and by Thursday, it was the top downloaded and top-grossing iOS and Android game in all three markets. This sort of debut never happens. Game of War: Fire Age was the No. 1 top-grossing game on Google Play in the U.S. before the release of The Pokémon Company’s GPS-powered location-based monster-catching game, and it took more than a year and tens of millions of dollars in marketing for it to overtake Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Saga. While the mobile gaming market is $36.9 billion, a handful of games and developers have dominated that space for multiple years in a row. Nintendo could have the brand recognition to disrupt that balance.