THE FUSE

Pokémon TCG Pocket is coming up on its second anniversary in a couple of months, but developer DeNA’s latest financial filings show a game in fast decline. The re-imagined version of the tabletop card game was immediately stunningly popular, not least because of the way the mobile game so satisfyingly simulated tearing open packs of cards to build collections and create battle decks. But with the company’s sales down a third, and player numbers for Pocket down over 41 percent compared to this time last year, the shiny is certainly wearing off. And as a daily player since launch, I’m not in the least bit surprised.