At Pokemon GO’s stellar launch, Nintendo stock shot up at an insane rate. Then, when Nintendo later clarified to investors that they would be getting barely any of the game’s insane profits, Nintendo stocks shot back down to normal levels. The aim of Pokemon GO, for Nintendo, wasn’t to make money off of the app itself; it was to get Pokemon back into the public eye in a big way. The game invaded public spaces in short order and Pokemon fever was back on like it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s. For all intents and purposes, it was a clear-cut case of mission accomplished. Now, Nintendo is releasing the information everybody was waiting on; that they’ve achieved their endgame with Pokemon GO.
With Pokemon Sun and Moon bringing a whole new generation to the 3DS after the console had been bombarded with sequels and remakes except for the original X and Y in 2013, hype for the series was already at a fairly high level. Pokemon GO kicked things into overdrive. Just about all of the 3DS titles started flying off of the shelves, even the older ones. 2013’s Pokemon X and Y jumped up 200% in year on year sales for the month of July, and Pokemon Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby, remakes that many nostalgia-stricken fans had likely decided to replay the originals of, managed to get up 80% year on year. Both games got into the top 10 charts for the console that month, but didn’t manage to top the much-hyped Monster Hunter Generations.
Pokefever is still burning bright, despite some issues with Pokemon GO. Where things go from here, of course, will likely depend on how well Sun and Moon do. The internet is already in a tizzy over the new Alola forms of old faces, as well as some of the new Pokemon designs. Whether the reaction is resoundingly positive or negative, nobody will know for sure until the game drops in November. Meanwhile, much-requested features like 1 on 1 battles and Pokemon trading are on their way to Pokemon GO, bringing the app a bit closer to the core Pokemon games and almost certainly increasing its already staggering popularity.