Pokémon TCG Pocket’s first shiny cards trigger 265% spending surge

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket saw a 265% daily revenue surge upon the launch of its latest card set, Shining Revelry.

Released on March 27th, 2025, it features over 110 new cards and includes rare shiny variants which depict various Pokémon in alternate colour schemes.

According to Sensor Tower estimates provided to PocketGamer.biz, TCG Pocket generated nearly $7.9 million on Shining Revelry’s release day.

The increased spending can likely be attributed to this new set, as well as the debut of TCG Pocket’s first paywalled card, shiny Mewtwo EX.

This recoloured fan-favourite can only be obtained through a $22.99 bundle purchase for various Mewtwo-related items, released alongside the new set, making it the only card thus far to be entirely inaccessible to free-to-play players.

Revelling in rarity

TCG Pocket generated $28m in gross player spending between Shining Revelry’s launch and the end of its first weekend. This marked an increase of 307% over the same period one week prior.

A trend of spending surges with each new pack launch has continued, though Shining Revelry’s day-one boost was smaller than those triggered by January’s Space-Time Smackdown or February’s Triumphant Light.

Shiny Pokémon have been sought out in the main series games since their first appearance in 1999’s Gold and Silver and have long since expanded to spinoffs. They are one of Pokémon Go’s main incentives to engage in Community Days and other events with a higher appearance rate than usual, and have also been sparsely available in the physical TCG for decades.

Shiny Pokémon cards found a renewed prevalence in 2019 with the Hidden Fates TCG set, which featured many desirable cards that sold second-hand for hundreds if not thousands of dollars. This included the infamous black, shiny Charizard card which sold for over $10,000.

The inclusion of shiny Pokémon cards in TCG Pocket is little surprise, therefore, with their desirability and potential profitability already well established physically.

Shining Revelry even includes a shiny Charizard card of its own, encouraging players to keep opening packs until they obtain it. Other fan-favourites like shiny Lucario are also available to pull from packs.