Nintendo (TYO:7974) shares have jumped over 20% following the immediate success of its new ‘Pokémon Go’ smartphone game.
Over the past two trading days, the success of the gaming app has seen shares rise 34% adding $7.5 billion to its market value according to Reuters.
Today, Nintendo stocks rallied 24.52% higher closing at 20,260 yen per share (£155.19). This leap is the highest since 1983 and is the first Nikkei share to breach the 20,000 yen barrier in 2016.
The game, that has sent new generations and lifelong fans into a frenzy, was debuted last Wednesday on IPhone and Android devices in the U.S, Australia and New Zealand. The debut sent the app to the top of US gaming charts resulting in an early 10% rise in shares in the Kyoto-based company.
The game which is not yet available in the UK, lets users track down virtual Pokémon game characters in real-life environments. The game has encouraged a surge of gamer’s to leave their homes and move around their local neighborhoods in a bid to hunt down the virtual characters on their smartphone screens.
Nintendo has been reluctant to release products based on its best known characters such as the Super Mario Bros and Pokémon due to its sole commitment to console based gaming. But the recent partnership with mobile firm DeNa has enabled the company to enter the smartphone gaming platform and has already covered up the recent failure of its Wii U launch.
As a result of its success, Nintendo has now promised four more smartphone games in the year ending March 2017 as analysts predict profits of up to 45bn yen (350m)
11/07/2016
