Pokemon Go loses App Store chart top spot to Clash Royale

Niantic's smash hit augmented reality mobile game Pokémon Go has been dethroned from its seat as the top grossing app on the US App Store by Supercell's popular strategy game Clash Royale.

The location-based game enjoyed the top spot for more than two months until developer Supercell updated its seven-month-old game with new cards and a new tournament mode that "sent players into a spending frenzy", according to analyst group Sensor Tower.

Pokémon Go surged past Clash Royale to become the fasted mobile game to reach 10 million downloads worldwide (in just seven days) and managed to pull in over $440m (£330.9m) in worldwide revenue since its release in July.

It does not, however, hold the record for most consecutive days as the top-grossing iOS app in the US App Store.

Supercell's Clash of Clans spent 347 straight days at the top of the list followed by King's Candy Crush Saga with 109 days, the firm said.

While Clash Royale's latest update has once again rekindled players' interest with fresh content and upgrades to improve the game and get players excited, the initial feverish hype surrounding Pokémon Go seems to have died down since its release in early July.

The game has introduced a few updates in the weeks since its launch to boost user engagement. However, they have only been relatively minor, cosmetic improvements such as its new appraisal feature and buddy system.

Niantic's most recent update - dubbed 0.37.0 for Android and 1.7.0 for iOS - introduced the new Buddy Pokémon system that allows players to team up with their favourite pocket monster to bond with, go out on walks with and gather extra candy. The update also blocked players with jail broken and rooted devices from playing the game as well - a change that has annoyed many users who may have those devices for alternative technical reasons rather than to cheat in the game.

However, the firm did note that Pokémon Go is still No. 1 in iPhone revenue in eight countries including Great Britain, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Thailand and Luxembourg. It has also retained its top spot in the US Google Play Store ahead of MZ's Mobile Strike and is still ranked in the top five apps in another 38 countries including the US.

However, Niantic Labs CEO John Hanke recently promised to bring some new features to Pokémon Go in the future including player battles, live events and new digital critters to capture which could spell a comeback.