Pokémon TCG Pocket Proves Unprecedented Demand for Pokémon

In celebration of the 1 year anniversary of Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, the Pokémon Company released a video hyping up the success of the app with… you guessed it: wicked stats 🤓 

Including this absolute gem:

More than 111 billion cards collected. In only 1 year.

While it’s not surprising to see a large number of cards collected through the app, the scale of the actual number came as a bit of a surprise to me.

That’s because, every year, The Pokémon Company updates their official corporate website with the latest edition of their “all time” stats, including how many physical cards were printed. By tracking the change from year-to-year, we get a pretty accurate perspective of the number of printed cards The Pokémon Company has produced.

Before the pandemic, back in 2019, this number was around 2 billion printed cards.

But, in the past few years, The Pokémon Company has printed 10 billion cards (or more)!

And, that 10 billion card figure was more than enough to make many collectors and commentators declare that Pokémon was printing too much, and that the cards would never retain their value.

And so, yeah, I was surprised to see the number of digital cards “printed” totalled more than 11 times the physical card print run.

To me, the evidence is clear: the market demands far more than just 10 billion cards.

Of course, there are very real differences between the physical and digital cards. Not the least of which is the fact that digital collectors get to open two free packs a day whereas physical cards cost money…

But the pure magnitude of the difference is a strong indicator of latent demand: proof that the market would consume far more physical Pokémon cards if The Pokémon Company would just print more.

With 2025 being a boom phase, driving unprecedented demand for Pokémon cards, it will be interesting to see how many cards The Pokémon Company printed when they update their official figures around March of 2026.

I’m expecting to see the figures increase from the 10 billion cards of 2024… but not by much.

And honestly? I think that's great news for the long-term health of the hobby.

Here's why: The Pokémon Company is threading a difficult needle. Print too much, and they crater the secondary market (just ask anyone who held Fusion Strike after the pandemic). Print too little, and they frustrate new collectors who can’t get their hands on product.

The 111 billion digital cards prove there's enormous appetite for Pokémon cards. So much so, that I think Pokémon has a lot of room to increase their print volumes without tanking the market.

Meanwhile, the popularity of Pokémon TCG Pocket continues to build a new pipeline of collectors: digital-first Pokémon fans who are more and more likely to want to own physical cards the longer they engage with the digital app.

The market just wants more cards: excellent.

Cheers 🍻

P.S. Are you still playing Pokémon TCG Pocket? What do you think of this news and on-going effect on Pokémon card market? Reply and let me know!