The overnight popularity of the mobile gaming app Pokemon Go has added US$7.5 billion to Nintendo’s market value.
The Japanese company’s shares rose 24.5 per cent on Monday to ¥20,260 in Tokyo, taking its overall gains to 35.6 per cent since Friday.
The revival of the worldwide sensation Pokemon comes in the form of a free mobile gaming app, released last week, which is topping the charts for Apple and Android users, indicating a switch to mobile gaming.
The online analytics company SimilarWeb said that more than 60 per cent of users are using it daily, which has put the game toe-to-toe with Twitter. It expects that by the end of this week, it will have surpassed the social network’s daily active users of about 136 million.
The augmented reality (AR) game allows users to play in the real world by tapping into Google Maps. Gamers use their smartphones to catch Pokemon characters, usually found at landmarks.
Although the app has only been officially released in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, players in the UAE have tapped their US accounts to grab hold of the latest craze.
The Abu Dhabi resident Harold Dickenson, 37, did just that andhas been playing it since Friday night. The IT professional had been following the game’s development for some time.
“It’s the first proper AR game where if you want to go somewhere, you actually have to move,” he said.
Since he started, he has been to various places around the capital including Al Bateen beach, Yas Marina and Yas Mall. These points of interests can turn into a “pokestop”, which allows players to grab pokeballs, power or other items.
While the game is free to download, users can buy “pokecoins” – from 99 US cents to $99.99 – which, in turn, can be used to buy pokeballs, used by players to catch more characters, powerups and other speciality items.
Mr Dickenson, who calls himself a “patient gamer”, said that he would consider making purchases in the future, while others will probably do it sooner.
“The majority of people playing this will have the disposable income to pay for it,” he said. “Usually [the players] are 35 and under – so what’s $5? It’s not a lot of money in small amounts.”
lgraves@thenational.ae
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