With over 60 million downloads and an estimated $180 million (R3.25 billion) in revenue since late October, a new Pokemon mobile game app is enjoying worldwide success as the latest incarnation of the hit Nintendo-owned franchise.

Released on October 30, Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket is a virtual version of the collectible card game that has captivated schoolyards since the late 1990s.

Developed by The Pokemon Company, a Nintendo subsidiary, it combines opening "boosters" -- the equivalent of sealed card packs -- with collecting creatures and online battles.

"Pokemon TCG Pocket is showing one of the strongest performances of any mobile game of all-time," Sam Aune, an analyst at digital market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, told AFP.

The group estimates it generated around $180 million through the Apple and Google app stores in just six weeks.

Developed by the Japanese games studio Creatures Inc., Pokemon TCG Pocket ranks second among mobile games measured by their first-month revenue, surpassed only by another Pokemon franchise title, Pokemon Go.

The global phenomenon of 2016, Pokemon Go generated over $200 million in its first month and drove millions of players outdoors to hunt for virtual creatures which appeared on their mobile phone screens.

As well as creating vast online revenues, the new surge in interest in Pikachu and his fellow cast of characters is spilling over into the offline world.

Sales of physical cards are rising -- and the game is back in fashion among school children.

"It brings players back into the Pokemon brand," explained Frederique Tutt, a toy market expert at Circana, a market research firm. "And physical cards remain the heart of the brand, something collectors want to own for playing and trading."

Unchanged experience

Popularised in the 1990s, the concept of collectible trading cards has since been adapted into many video games.

From "Gwent" in The Witcher III to "Hearthstone" from the Warcraft universe, card games have carved out a special place in the hearts of gamers.

Pokemon TCG Pocket has "very effectively brought that card pack opening and playing experience to digital," says Simon Carless, founder of the analyst firm GameDiscoverCo.

"It's actually a very unchanged experience compared to the physical card game -- which was smart, and that's why people love it," he added.

On social media, players have been sharing videos of themselves unveiling new cards or participating in tournaments, with the hashtag #PokemonTCG amassing over 1.5 million posts on TikTok.

Other video game adaptations of the Pokemon trading card universe date back decades.

A Game Boy title was released in Europe in 2000, followed by another for PCs in the early 2010s.

While Pokemon TCG Pocket is free to download, players are encouraged to spend money in-app to acquire more cards.

Sacha Bernard, a 33-year-old teacher from the Paris suburb Creteil, said he was drawn in by nostalgia for the characters and the "short and fast" gameplay sessions.

"Since it launched, I must have spent around 70 euros," he told AFP. "It's really the first time a mobile game has made me spend that kind of money."

AFP

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Pokémon TCG Pocket becomes a hit with 60 million downloads