14 DAY TRIAL // If you’ve been living under a rock for the past two weeks, you’re probably super lucky because Pokemon don’t usually hide under rocks, so you were not disturbed by the hordes of zombie people walking around holding their phones and hunting for Nintendo’s little creatures.
Pokemon Go has become a global sensation, and everyone’s playing it, and this is probably more than Nintendo itself probably expected.
And living proof is the market value of Nintendo, which has surpassed the one of Sony Corporation, mostly thanks to Pokemon Go. A report by Bloomberg shows that Nintendo is now valued at more than $39 billion, overtaking Sony, which is currently at $38.3 billion. The growth continued, and on Tuesday, Nintendo reached $42.5 billion.
Top download in all big markets
Pokemon Go has been a hit from day one, and this has made Nintendo’s shares grow more as the game has become available in new markets around the world. After the first week of availability, Nintendo’s share value increased by 24.52 percent to reach $193, which, according to analysts, has been the biggest growth experienced by the company since 1983.
Furthermore, Pokemon Go is estimated to have generated up to $4.9 million only during the first day after launch, despite the fact that it originally debuted in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
In the meantime, Nintendo has made Pokemon Go available in most big European markets, but the priority now is to bring it in 200 countries worldwide, including South Korea and Japan, which are regions where the company could hit roadblocks because of restrictions to Google Maps.
Pokemon Go uses Google Maps API to provide location data to players, and the service is impacted by several restrictions in South Korea due to security concerns in the tense relationship with North Korea.
Nintendo officials claim that the company is already working on a way to get around this problem, and solutions have been found, but it remains to be seen how soon the game will be released in this countries.