Shares in Japan’s Nintendo Co., which produces games consoles and video games, jumped by 6.9 per cent on Friday following its announcement that sales of the Pokémon Pokopia game for the Switch 2 had exceeded 5 million copies.
According to CNBC, the game ranked second in Nintendo’s sales charts, behind only Mario Kart World. Donkey Kong Bananas came in third.
Nintendo announced the release of Pokémon Pokopia in September last year. At the time, it was thought that this spin-off from the Pokémon franchise, featuring elements of Animal Crossing – one of the most popular games for the original Switch console – would not be a great success.
The company now plans to release updates and expansions for Pokémon Pokopia to maintain interest among current players and attract new ones.
Investors are keeping a close eye on news regarding game sales, as these can directly influence demand for games consoles. Against the backdrop of rising memory chip prices, Nintendo was forced to increase the price of the Switch 2, which went on sale just over a year ago.
In the first quarter (April–June) of the 2027 financial year, Nintendo sold 3.82 million Switch 2 consoles – 34.4 per cent fewer than a year earlier. The company forecasts that sales for the full financial year will total 16.5 million consoles.
Despite a noticeable rise at the close of trading on Friday, Nintendo’s market capitalisation has fallen by 16% since the start of this year and by 38.2% over the past 12 months.