That sent it soaring as investors bought the narrative, pushing it above 30,000 yen at one stage – and briefly making the firm more valuable than Sony.
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The phenomenal success of Pokemon Go has triggered massive buying in Nintendo shares and even with Monday’s decline, the shares are still up some 60 per cent compared with levels prior to the game’s July 6 launch in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Chief executive of Niantic, John Hanke, was quoted by Reuters, as saying “Why to limit it?”, and predicted that South Korea and Japan could get Pokemon Go in the coming weeks too.
Nintendo, which holds stakes in Pokemon and the game’s developer Niantic, saw its stock nearly double through Thursday following the game’s debut in the U.S. Its market value today is more than $38 billion, exceeding the likes of Tesla Motors and Sony. Both Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, one of its subsidiaries, have invested in the privately-held Niantic.
“Taking the current situation into consideration, the company is not modifying the consolidated financial forecast for now”, the statement said.
The game uses many smartphone functions, including map applications, Global Positioning System and camera, to create an experience that makes it seem like players are capturing Pokemon creatures in the real world.
Pokemon Go was seen as a shot in the arm to Nintendo – which also created the Donkey Kong, Super Mario and Legend of Zelda brands – after it abandoned a longstanding consoles only policy and opened the door to licensing some of its characters for mobile game use.
“Everyone had been waiting for this”, said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute.
Pokémon GO is yet to be released in Japan, but the government is already quite anxious about the hit Niantic app’s launch in the country because of numerous reports of accidents the game has caused overseas in recent days. “These things were factored in and boosted its shares”.
McDonald’s Holdings (Japan), which began selling Pokemon-themed meals and is expected to launch a marketing campaign through the app, jumped as much as 9.1 percent.
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Players from San Francisco to Lagos have been warned after trespassing, including some youngsters crossing the Canada-US border. As a result, the Japanese government has released a few safety guidelines which potential gamers should follow.
