How does Pokémon Go compare with the world's other blockbuster games?

Pokémon Go fever is sweeping the world. The mobile app is dominating download charts and crashing servers across Europe and the United States as millions of players in more than two dozen countries chase virtual Pokémon creatures in the real world.

People in the US have been spending more time on the augmented reality app than Facebook and it’s attracting more daily active users than Twitter.

Within hours of its US release, Pokémon Go shot to the top of the app store. So how does the game’s massive success compare against wildly popular mobile hits such as Candy Crush Saga and Clash Royale?

A report from SurveyMonkey Intelligence indicates that Pokémon Go has become the “biggest mobile game in US history”. It estimates that as of 11 July 21 million people were playing it on iOS and Android in the US alone.

According to Sensor Tower data, it took Pokémon Go just 14 hours to become the number one app in the US. To put the game’s meteoric rise into context, it took Clash Royale just under three days to do the same, Mobile Strike just over six months and Game of War: Fire Age a year and a half.

Pokémon Go is also earning millions of dollars a day for maker Niantic, which was spun out of Google parent company Alphabet last year.

Meanwhile, Nintendo, which publishes the Pokémon franchise and is a financial stakeholder in Niantic, has seen its stock price soar, closing last week at its highest level since June 2010.

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