Pokémon TCG Pocket arrived with remarkable momentum, quickly becoming one of the most downloaded mobile releases of late 2024. The game surpassed 30 million downloads within its first week and continued climbing toward roughly 150 million downloads over the following year and a half.
Despite that early success, new financial disclosures indicate a more complicated long-term picture. While new players continue to join at a healthy pace, the number of returning monthly active users has declined compared to the launch period. Exact MAU figures were not publicly disclosed, but the trend suggests the game is struggling to hold onto its earliest audience.
A Familiar Pattern Emerging
This retention slowdown is not entirely unexpected. Previous earnings updates had already highlighted similar concerns and pointed toward potential changes to the card-collection structure. Many players anticipated meaningful improvements around the one-year anniversary, yet reactions to anniversary content were mixed.
If the decline among veteran players continues, it could threaten the game’s ability to sustain strong engagement metrics and long-term monetization—two pillars critical to any live-service mobile title.
Incremental Fixes Instead of Major Overhaul
Rather than introducing a sweeping redesign, the development team has focused on smaller, iterative updates. Recent additions include:
- The Fantastical Parade expansion, which expands Mega Evolution EX options for Psychic, Steel, and Grass deck strategies.
- Enhanced solo battle modes featuring randomized decks across four difficulty tiers.
- Adjustments to the trading system that allow players to post open trade preferences for easier matchmaking.
These updates aim to improve moment-to-moment gameplay and accessibility, but they stop short of addressing deeper structural concerns tied to long-term engagement.
What Comes Next for Pokémon TCG Pocket
DeNA has signaled additional in-game events, promotional campaigns, and broader multi-layered initiatives, though concrete details remain limited. The current approach suggests a balancing act between steady content updates and the possibility of more fundamental system changes in the future.
Whether incremental improvements will be enough to reverse declining retention remains uncertain. For now, Pokémon TCG Pocket stands as a clear example of a mobile hit that captured massive early attention—yet still faces the ongoing challenge of keeping players invested over time.
