It may have only been officially available for a day, but Pokemon GO‘s popularity has already soared beyond belief and it’s not even available in Europe yet. The mobile game, which is available on iOS and Android devices, encourages players to explore their real world surroundings in order to capture Pokemon that appear by way of an augmented reality mechanic.
News outlet Reuters has reported that Nintendo’s shares have jumped in value by 10% since the title launched, stating that:
Shares in Nintendo jumped 10 percent to their highest level in more than two months with the stock the most heavily traded by value on Tokyo’s main board and giving the firm a market value of about $23 billion.
Sounds like good news all round, right? Nintendo, The Pokemon Company and developer Niantic will no doubt have big smiles on their faces following Pokemon GO‘s successful launch, but it remains to be seen if it can maintain its popularity over an extended period of time.
Reuters continues to report, however, that investment firm Macquarie Securities has observed that in-game purchases so far have been made by large numbers of users rather than a smaller pool of consumers spending a lot a lot of cash, so everything seems to be gravy. For now, at least.