It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know Pokemon is a mammoth media franchise but is it the biggest and if so, just how big is it?
Pokemon is indeed the biggest media franchise, according to TitleMax, having generated more than $90 billion over its history. The metric used to determine the biggest is revenue and that is comprised of video game, merchandise, comics, box office and more.
It will come as no surprise that Pokemon has amassed a lot of its money through video game sales, around two thirds of their total revenue. However, it isn’t the biggest video game franchise – as it’s beaten by both Mario and Sonic in terms of most grossing, and just Mario when it comes to copies sold.
It is estimated the Pokemon franchise has made over $92 billion in revenue. Second to Pokemon is the Hello Kitty brand which may come as a surprise to the younger generation. The fictional cartoon character has generated an impressive $80 billion in revenue.
Third and fourth on the list is Winnie the Pooh and Mickey Mouse, generating $75 billion and $70 billion, respectively. These two, and Hello Kitty, have actually sold more merchandise than Pokemon.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
However, because of Pokemon’s video game sales, which is how a lot of Pokemon fans know the series, and their huge trading card game, they outsell them all.
The average consumer would probably list Pokemon trading cards as the most iconic card collectibles, but Yu-Gi-Oh cards has produced more revenue. It is close though, as the latter sits at $11 billion and Pokemon $10 billion.
A lot of media franchises on this list would be considered relatively old and, alongside Pokemon, the most known is probably Harry Potter. This pails in comparison and lies all the way down in 10th place.
There’s no reason Pokemon won’t extend their lead at the top with the mobile game Pokemon Go still proving incredibly popular and the new mainline game, Pokemon Sword and Shield, only months from release. Pokemon also maintains a cult following meaning merchandise sales will likely not dwindle either.