Pokemon HOME Hits A Big Milestone Right Out Of The Gate

Earlier this month, Nintendo launched a new app for Switch and mobile devices called Pokemon HOME. Meant to be a companion to modern games in the Pokemon series – namely Pokemon Sword, Shield, Let's Go Pikachu, Let's Go Eevee, and Pokemon GO – Pokemon HOME offers a lot of functionality, whether that's transferring Pokemon between games or storing large collections long-term.

Like the app that preceded it, Pokemon Bank, Pokemon HOME requires a subscription fee to access most of its important features. Pokemon HOME, however, costs quite a bit more than Pokemon Bank – while the latter app only runs $5 per year, a premium Pokemon HOME subscription costs users $15.99 per year, getting more expensive for users who subscribe on a monthly ($2.99/month) or quarterly ($4.99/three months) basis.

That price hike over Pokemon Bank doesn't seem to be a major deterrent for users, though. SensorTower reports that in its first week of availability, the mobile app (which is available on both iOS and Android) generated a grand total of 1.3 million downloads. Many of those installs came from users in the US (444k) and Japan (299k). SensorTower estimates that the app has generated $1.8 million in user spending so far as well, potentially making this a cash cow for Nintendo and The Pokemon Company.

SensorTower's data doesn't give us insight into how many times Pokemon HOME has been downloaded on Switch, but it stands to reason that download numbers for that platform are similarly high. After all, Pokemon HOME is a necessary app if users want to access the Global Trade System, which isn't present in Pokemon Sword and Shield.

So, while Pokemon HOME is off to a strong start, that isn't very surprising considering that it offers features that many Pokemon players would consider necessary. For more on Pokemon HOME, be sure to check out our guide on whether or not a premium subscription is right for you.