Pokémon Go - is all the hype really justified?

Japanese game maker Nintendo Co Ltd (TYO:7974) has seen its share price double over the past 10 days since the launch of Pokémon Go, an amazingly popular augmented-reality game that was only launched on 6th July. Ironically, the day it launched in Japan (its biggest market) saw the first share price decline since launch. Such is the mania around the game that last week Nintendo accounted for nearly one in four shares that changed hands on the main board of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the world’s 4th largest. The sharp rise in share price has seen the market capitalisation of the Kyoto-based company doubling to approx. 4 trillion yen (£29 billion). Can this fantastic new game really justify a £14bn+ price tag, which back in the ‘real reality’ world is broadly equivalent to the value of supermarket giant Tesco (TSCO). What’s all the more surprising is that “Pokémon Go,” was developed by Niantic , a Google spin off that Nintendo Co. invested in last year. Investor’s Champion sought the insight of a younger member of the team to assess this game phenomena!