{"id":332787,"date":"2026-03-11T03:38:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/332787\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T03:38:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:38:09","slug":"stealth-hit-pokemon-game-sends-nintendo-shares-soaring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/332787\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Stealth hit’ Pokemon game sends Nintendo shares soaring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"'Pokemon ‘Pokemon Pokopia’ has an aggregated review score of 89 on Metacritic (Patrick T. Fallon) \u00b7 Patrick T. Fallon\/AFP\/AFP <\/p>\n

Fan buzz around life-simulation game “Pokemon Pokopia” sent Nintendo shares soaring on Wednesday, with some hailing the new title as a welcome antidote to global conflicts.<\/p>\n

Japan’s Nintendo has enjoyed bumper sales for its latest Switch 2 console, but some have called the line-up of new games for the device lackluster.<\/p>\n

So early success for “Pokemon Pokopia”, released on March 5 to rave reviews and reports of store sell-outs around the world, has relieved investors.<\/p>\n

“Pokemon Pokopia” launched as a Switch 2 exclusive, “immediately becoming a viral stealth hit”, analyst Atul Goyal from investment bank Jefferies said.<\/p>\n

“The title successfully bridges the gap between core gamers and casual audiences,” Goyal said.<\/p>\n

The new Pokemon game has an aggregated review score of 89 on Metacritic, which Goyal described as a high for the three-decade-old video game franchise.<\/p>\n

Nintendo shares were up nine percent in mid-morning trade on Wednesday, also likely boosted by the release of the final trailer for the star-studded upcoming “Super Mario” movie sequel.<\/p>\n

Players have compared the game, in which they control a human-like character to rejuvenate a village, to “Animal Crossing” — another Nintendo life-sim that became a hit during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

“If you’re looking for a mental break from the world def get Pokopia, it’s like therapy,” US-based influencer Ashley Duncan wrote on X.<\/p>\n

“For Covid we had Animal Crossing. For WW3 we have Pokopia. Thank you for the distractions, Nintendo,” said another X post from fan account Pokemon Daily Post, which has nearly 90 million followers.<\/p>\n

The basic premise of Pokemon, inspired by the Japanese summer childhood tradition of bug-collecting, is to catch and train in battle hundreds of round-eyed “pocket monsters”.<\/p>\n

The phenomenon has evolved since the first 1996 game release with anime series, movies, a trading card game and the augmented reality smartphone app “Pokemon Go”.<\/p>\n

Nintendo’s Switch 2, the world’s fastest-selling games console, launched in June 2025 as the successor to the first Switch.<\/p>\n

The original is now the second top-selling console of all time after Sony’s PlayStation 2, boosted by the popularity of games including “Animal Crossing”.<\/p>\n

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