Niantic had a Happy Halloween as revenue topped $23 million globally.

Pokemon Go hosted their first in-game event this Halloween weekend offering players bonus candy and increased occurrences of ghost and psychic type Pokemon.

The Halloween themed event ran from October 25 to November 2nd. Players were able to find Ghastly’s, Haunters, Gengar, Drowsies, and Hypnos more easily and earned double candy on all Pokemon caught or traded. Later Cubone, Marowak, and Meowth were also included. It was a great opportunity to collect of evolve new Pokemon if you have been unable to find them since you started player. It was also a good chance for players to collect XP and stardust as the Pokemon involved spawned especially regularly.

This event came at a good time for Niantic as Pokemon Go has been experiencing a decline in player participation since its peak in July. Niantic has been alienating players with a lack of communication and by shutting down third party apps that help players hunt Pokemon when the app itself failed. Given the game’s promise of hunting, Pokemon players have become frustrated that rarer Pokemon remain elusive with no supporting tracking system. Pokemon Go’s leveling system has also created limitations; as leveling up to higher levels not only takes longer but yields less perks such as lures, a key component in the social aspect of the game.

This weekend’s event has proven to be a big success as Techcruch reports SensorTower’s data on the app’s performance this week.

The app earned more than $23 million globally, between October 25 to 29, a significant increase from the $10 million earned in the previous week. Pokemon Go more than doubled its net revenue and managed to return to the top grossing app on Google Play store. Niantic did not add any new content or significant changes to the app between the two week so the event itself was responsible for the boost in revenue. This is great news for Niantic and possibly for fans of the app. Although some may be frustrated with the grind, Niantic still has the power to engage players and this may yield more events in the future.

Personally I got as fed up with Ghastly as I have with Pidgeys after the first couple days however the most interesting aspect was the increased rate at which buddy Pokemon earned candy. I would love to see similar events in the app in the future. What Pokemon would you like to see included in special events? Let us know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.