Pokemon Game Adds $7.5 Billion To Nintendo Market Value In Two Days (reuters.com)

Who would have thought that Nintendo will ever make a strong return to the market... especially with an app that is not designed for company's signature hardware. But that is exactly what has happened. Shares in Nintendo soared again on Monday, according to a report on Reuters, bringing market-value gains to $7.5 billion in just two days as investors cheered the runaway success of Pokemon Go, the company's first long-awaited title in mobile gaming. From the report: The game, which marries a classic 20-year old franchise with augmented reality, allows players to walk around real-life neighbourhoods while seeking virtual Pokemon game characters on their smartphone screens - a scavenger hunt that has earned enthusiastic early reviews. In the United States, by July 8 -- two days after its release -- it was installed on more than 5 percent of Android devices in the country, according to web analytics firm SimilarWeb. It is now on more Android phones than dating app Tinder and its rate of daily active users was neck and neck with social network Twitter, the analytics firm said. The game is also being played an average of 43 minutes a day, more time spent than on WhatsApp or Instagram, it added. Update: 07/11 11:03 GMT by M :A report on Quartz states that Pokemon Go has added nearly 11 billion USD to the value of Nintendo since its release.

Comments

Re:Two days?

[Dins]

I played the game this weekend with my 18 year old son. It was actually pretty fun. The app needs a good bit of work, but assuming they keep developing and don't mess it up, I can easily see the added market valuation.

It made a kid who usually sits inside at his computer most of the time walk a total of ~8 miles this weekend (not an exaggeration - he's hooked). As my son put it, "Michelle Obama has been trying to convince kids to go outside for 8 years. Nintendo did it in 24 hours."

Re:How long will it last though?

[ranton]

This game only has potential if Nintendo makes an actual game out of it. As it stands this is the worst Pokemon game I have seen, but with a great gimmick which helped make it go viral (along with brand recognition). I downloaded it and played for a couple days, until I found out what the game play was actually like after level 5 (which only takes an hour or so to get to). The novelty wore off right about then.

This is an amazing example of how Augmented Reality will create a whole new segment of gaming. But as an actual game Pokemon Go is horrible. It does make me hopeful for the games we will start seeing in the very near future, and Nintendo will likely be at the forefront of those games. But I doubt this game will have much staying power once Augmented Reality games with actual game play come out. If that doesn't happen for a year or more then Pokemon Go will probably stay strong until then.