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Before the internet took hold of Pokémon cards, they were a global gaming phenomenon. It was refreshing because it was during a time when home video consoles were dominating the space. Yes, it was an exciting time for gamers, and these companies were making some incredible advances, but any industry needs to have a range that audiences can dip into. The variety is crucial; it stops gaming companies from becoming complacent and monopolies from forming.
However, with that said, it’s probably fair to say that Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! created a duopoly in the world of collectible cards, especially in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The digitization of collectible cards opened up the market to an international level of interest, meaning that other games were able to play catch-up.
This resulted in games like Marvel Snap and Hearthstone harnessing the power of the growing digital audience in the early 2000s and creating brands that were able to rival some of the audience that Pokémon managed to hoover up in the early stages of the 21st century.
The Rise Of Social Media
Social media has opened up a whole new raft of markets in gaming, and it’s completely remodelled the fabric of the industry. Pokémon influencers now command an enormous portion of the market and spend thousands of dollars on any given video, so that they can reveal pack openings to millions of people via their YouTube or Instagram.
For many Millennials, it’s a nostalgic return to the days of collecting them in a physical format, and it’s also a cause for regret, as keeping hold of some of the packs from back then would’ve been a pretty shrewd investment. Multiple gaming industries have leveraged social media to bring an international audience to their brand, particularly those that have been significant conventional markets before the internet, such as specific areas of the casino gaming world.
Poker is a game that many believed would struggle to make the transition into the online casino gaming industry. Still, it’s one of the stalwarts of the global industry now, with a multitude of variants ranging from crypto games to video poker. Online poker gambling might not have the same characteristics as YouTubers who spend exorbitant levels of cash buying and opening Pokémon cards.
Still, they are both industries that have been able to move into the digital age with great aplomb and utilized social media to its fullest, as you can see in the link below.
Pokémon In The Digital Age
The massive success of Pokémon Go in 2016 laid the foundation for a lot of the success we currently see on social media. It’s a phenomenon that has reinvigorated Millennials, showcasing the concept of digital Pokémon cards, which has brought in a whole new audience because of its digital adaptability.
Not only has it preserved the essence of what makes the card game so fondly remembered by many, but it has also introduced new concepts, including tournaments and online communities where players can trade and duel with their digital collectibles.
By breathing new life into the Pokémon World Championships, an annual event that has been around for over two decades, it may have been slow out of the traps. At the same time, other digital collectibles were able to gain ground, but in the current landscape, it is a market that is healthier than ever.
As we discussed in the last section, the exponential rise of social media and the culture of likes, subscribers, and clout, which are among the most essential social currencies, have all helped to fuel the new market for Pokémon in all of its formats. Not just the new digital versions of the game, but also for the retro cards that influencers make a living investing in and opening on live streams.
The Future Fabric Of The Industry
Although the concept of Pokémon trading has seemingly lost momentum, especially following the 2021 peak when YouTubers like Logan Paul earned millions by buying and selling retro cards, it remains a significant phenomenon.
However, with other digital collectible communities also commanding an even greater part of the industry, and the designers behind Pokemon looking to shift their focus on mobile apps and games rather than the physical format of the cards, it’s tough to say where it’s going to be between now and the end of this decade.
Suffice to say, those who were able to ride this slipstream early enough have made an enormous amount of profit from their initial investment. But for those who are currently just starting up in the social media boom and looking to gain social media clout and followers from spending big on cards and opening them, then it’s a tricky road to navigate.
There will still be an enormous ecosystem for Pokémon gamers and fans to explore, but whether the social media clout that it generated a few years ago is something it will sustain is probably unlikely.
