Niantic, the developers of Pokémon GO are doubling down on their support of the Black Lives Matter movement after a successful Pokémon GO Fest weekend. They’re raising their donation amount to $10 million.
About a month ago, Niantic promised to donate at least $5 million from ticket sales from the Pokémon GO Fest toward the BLM movement. The event, which took place over the weekend, was a success. Niantic explained in a recent blog post that ticket sales for the event were so successful that they’ll be doubling down on their intended donation, raising it to $10 million.
Market analysts estimate that Pokémon GO Fest generated about $17.5 million for the company. This is the highest 24 hour revenue spike the company has seen since 2016. It also means that a little over half of all the money they made will go toward these charitable projects.
Half of this money will be given to non-profit organizations in the United States dedicated to supporting local communities after the police brutality protests. The other half will go toward funding new projects from Black developers working in the games and augmented reality industry.
To further support small businesses, Niantic has received over 33,000 recommendations for small businesses to be included into the Pokémon GO system as gyms and PokéStops. About 1,000 of these locations will be implemented into the game on July 31.
This is a fantastic example of how a company can use their wealth and success for a greater good.