Pokemon TCG Pocket is Struggling to Retain Its Players

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The mobile game Pokemon TCG Pocket is facing challenges in maintaining the interest of players who have been playing for a long time, according to a recent financial report. Although the game was very popular when it launched in 2024 and continued to do well throughout its first year, player engagement is starting to decrease, and the game’s developer, DeNA, is working on solutions to recapture their attention.

When Pokemon TCG Pocket launched worldwide in late October 2024, it quickly became a hit with mobile gamers. The game, a free-to-play digital version of the popular Pokemon Trading Card Game with some rule changes, reached over 30 million downloads in just a week. Since then, in about a year and a half, that number has grown to more than 150 million downloads from players globally.

Pokemon TCG Pocket is Still Struggling to Retain Longtime Players

Recent data from DeNA shows that many original players of Pokemon TCG Pocket have stopped playing, which could make it difficult to maintain a large player base as the game enters its second year. Although the game continues to attract new players, the developer’s latest earnings report indicates that the number of monthly active users is decreasing. According to a translation from Nintendo Patents Watch, the report notes a decline in player retention compared to when the game first launched, making it harder to keep monthly active users stable. While specific numbers haven’t been released, a loss of player interest could hurt the game’s long-term prospects.

In DeNA’s Q3 earnings Q&A, the company admitted that the user retention of Pokémon TCG Pocket is weaker than before: “While new user acquisition remains strong, the retention rate of existing users has declined compared to the launch period, making MAU maintenance an issue.” 1/ — Nintendo Patents Watch (@ninpatentswatch.bsky.social) 2026-02-06T05:17:00.040Z

Keeping long-time players engaged continues to be a challenge for DeNA, as they’ve discussed this issue before. About six months ago, an earnings report highlighted a similar problem with players returning each month and suggested significant changes to how cards are collected in Pokemon TCG Pocket could help. Back in August 2025, DeNA also noted a drop in player retention and indicated major updates to the card collection system were planned for the year. Many players anticipated these changes would arrive with the game’s one-year anniversary, and while the Deluxe Pack EX and re-released Promo Cards addressed some concerns, the response from fans was varied.

Image via The Pokemon Company

DeNA has plans to improve Pokemon TCG Pocket with future updates, but they aren’t sharing many details yet. They mentioned more in-game events and promotions, and some broader “multi-layered initiatives.” However, many fans feel these ideas are too vague, especially since they’re still waiting for the significant changes to how cards are collected that were promised last summer. Fans are hoping for a clearer plan of action from the development team.

DeNA has made some positive updates to the game since our last report. The January 28th release of the Pokemon TCG Pocket‘s Fantastical Parade expansion added more powerful Mega Evolution EX cards, giving players more options when building Psychic, Steel, and Grass-type decks. The developers have also enhanced the single-player mode, introducing solo battles against random decks at four different difficulty levels for quicker, less predictable gameplay. While some players are still unhappy with how card trading works, DeNA continues to make improvements, recently allowing players to share their trading preferences with messages.

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2026-02-10 20:39