The News
The Wall Street Journal has the news on Nintendo’s big move. How big a hit is the two-year-old Honor of Kings title in the Chinese gaming market? It was the country’s highest grossing app in the second quarter of 2017, averaging $87 million a month on iOS. Interestingly, about 40 percent of the game’s users in China are female, according to QuestMobile. Here’s what took Nintendo so long to swoop in, as the article goes on to explain.
Don’t Get Too Excited Just Yet
The news is definitely a strong signal that the Switch console and Nintendo’s smartphone games could be a hit in the massive China market. But the last year has been a wild ride for the videogame maker and its stock: Their shares shot up after viral phenomenon Pokemon Go launched in 2016 before they dropped farther than they had ever been since 1990 when investors realized Nintendo doesn’t own the game: It’s a collaboration between The Pokémon Company and Niantic Labs… and Nintendo only owns 32 percent of The Pokémon Company. Can Nintendo hang on to its lead? The success (or failure) of its China efforts will determine Nintendo’s future.