If you are not playing Pokemon GO then you have seen someone that has been playing it. It is inescapable. The app, so far, has been a huge success for Nintendo. Upon release of the Pokemon GO, Nintendo’s market value jumped $7.5 billion in just two (that’s right, TWO) days. The app has over 7.5 million downloads so far and is looking to only grow. Not to mention that it is installed on more than 5% of all Android devices in the United States. This hit for Nintendo really had me thinking about Nintendo at it’s current market strategy.
Nintendo, in the past, has really only developed for their own hardware. Trust me, if there was a Mario or Zelda games for Xbox or PlayStation, I would remember that. Nintendo has been struggling with the Wii U and finding that success the came with the Wii back in 2006. Anyone that has been following Nintendo should be familiar with the fact that the Wii U just has not been living up to it’s older brother. Even with the struggle of the Wii U, Nintendo has stuck with this business model but with the huge success of Pokemon GO it is possible for the company to be looking at developing for hardware outside of the Nintendo.
This app proves that there is a huge fan base that is outside of the Nintendo hardware ecosystem. As of May 7th, 2016, according to VGChartz, 40.7 million PlayStation 4s have been sold as well as as 21.1 million Xbox Ones. These number symbolize a much large market that Nintendo has consistently left untapped by their games. Nintendo would be crazy not to consider other platforms in the future following the huge success of Pokemon GO.
However, it is hard to be the very best like no one ever was if the servers are always down!!
Bluecow Radio 