It seems it’s not only fans of Nintendo’s games who were eagerly anticipating the release of Pokémon Go, Nintendo’s first full-fledged mobile game.
Nintendo’s stock continues to skyrocket following the release of Pokémon Go, surging 9.3 percent with the company’s share price also jumping to $193, its highest one-day increase since 1983. In total, Nintendo’s market value is now at $7.5 billion following the release of the eagerly anticipated augmented reality mobile game.
In Pokémon Go’s official release regions of the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, the title is at the top of both the Google Play Store and App Store charts. While the game has not officially launched in Canada, with a few extra steps, it’s easy to install the title on both iOS and Android devices. Amusingly, a generic Pokédex is currently at the top of the App Store in Canada. On the Google Play side of the mobile marketplace, an app disguising itself Pokémon Go sat at the top of the store all weekend.
Some market research indicates that the game has already been installed on five percent of all smartphones in the United States.
Pokémon Go was developed by Niantic and based on infrastructure created for the developer’s previous game, Ingress. Niantic was originally founded as a subsidiary of Google, but spun off from the company in October 2015. Pokémon Go is a collaboration between Niantic, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo. Nintendo is a primary investor in both Niantic and the Pokémon Company, and is set to receive 30 percent of the free-to-play game’s in-app purchase revenue.
Since Pokémon Go is free, all of Nintendo’s revenue related to the game is generated through in-app purchases. Unlike most titles that adopt this monetization model however, Pokémon Go isn’t pay-to-win. Microtransactions only work as a way to purchase additional Pokéballs and other items that aren’t essentially to progressing in the game.
Pokémon Go is expected to officially launch in Canada at some point in the near future, though the game’s global rollout was recently halted due to server issues.
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