Pokémon Go Fest contributes greatly to the local economy.

• Pokemon Go Fest 2024 brings in over $200 million to local economy
• It’s in the hot spots of Madrid, New York and Sendai!
• Community events have been a great success for Niantic, and there’s even an offer coming in!

Since its release, Pokémon Go has gained immense devotion from Niantic digital monster fans around the world! This has made it an extremely popular way to meet new people, with crowds of people flocking to local hotspots at large social events. And it benefited the local economy.

Yes, according to new data, Niantic’s Pokémon Go Fest events generated a whopping $200 million for the local economies in the cities where the events took place. This includes major tourist hotspots such as Madrid, as well as New York and Sendai.

Of course, Pokémon Go Fest is not without its quirky stories, such as crazy couple proposals. But this latest data from the folks at Statista certainly gives Niantic a reason to be complacent, and perhaps a reason for other cities to consider officially inviting them?

Going global

The economic impact of Pokemon Go shouldn’t be taken lightly—after all, it’s a major contributing factor to any big event. Local governments are always wary of anything that has a big impact, and this can lead to official support or approval, as well as increased interest in general as a by-product.

You only have to look to our writer Jupiter Hadley’s coverage of the Madrid holidays to see how Pokemon Go fans were driving around the city, no doubt contributing to numerous ice cream and soda sales in the sweltering heat.

Could this lead to big changes to the game? There may have been significant uncertainty post-Covid about how much Niantic would back away from encouraging the IRL nature of its popular AR creature collector, and while they’ve kept some popular tweaks to features like raids, I wouldn’t be surprised. if they take it as a sign that they need to get back into the real world a little more.