Nintendo’s stock shares skyrocketed after the initial release of Pokemon GO because everyone and their mom was playing it. However, the company’s stocks took a tumble today after investors realized that the big N actually doesn’t have that much to do with the application.
A statement released by Nintendo today clarifying ownership of the mobile game caused the company’s stocks to fall 18 percent today.
“This mobile game application is developed and distributed by Niantic, The Pokémon Company, which is an affiliated company of Nintendo, holds the ownership rights to Pokémon. The Pokémon Company is going to receive a licensing fee as well as compensation for collaboration in the development and operations of the application,” Nintendo said.
“The Company owns 32 percent of the voting power of The Pokémon Company. The Pokémon Company is the Company’s affiliated company, accounted for by using the equity method. Because of this accounting scheme, the income reflected on the Company’s consolidated business results is limited.”
Despite an 18 percent drop today, the stock share of Nintendo is still extremely high compared to where it was prior to the release of the application.
Pokemon GO has taken the world by storm, becoming the most downloaded mobile game of all time on the iTunes Store.