Less than a month ago, we reported on news that GungHo Online Entertainment's market cap had passed the $10 billion mark, putting it comfortably ahead of social gaming giants GREE and DeNA combined.
Now, 18 days later, a further share price surge has pushed that figure up to $15.1 billion, placing GungHo ahead of one other Japanese powerhouse Nintendo.
As detailed by Tokyo-based mobile gaming consultant Dr Serkan Toto, the rise and rise of GungHo comes after the studio's flagship the aforementioned Puzzle & Dragons hit 13 million registered users in Japan, equal to 10 percent of the country's population.
Up and up
Commentators have already branded the release the 'most lucrative videogame in the world', and GungHo has attempted to capitalise on its success in recent weeks by launching a DS port and Japan-only spin-off for iOS and Android called Puzzle & Dragons Challenge.
Increased interest in the GunHo on the Osaka Stock Exchange as a result has pushed its market cap uo to 1.54 trilion yen, equal to $15.1 billion and, most importantly, narrowly ahead of Nintendo on $15 billion.
US director of production Kenji Hosoi
It all means that, having already surpassed EA (currently boasting a market cap of $6.7 billion) and Zynga (on a comparatively modest $2.6 billion), GungHo's next target is Call of Duty behemoth Activision-Blizzard, which currently sports a market cap of $16.7 billion.
"Our focus is making great games, not the stock," US director of production Kenji Hosoi told us of the firm's success during GDC 2013.
"The worth of our company isn't the stock price, and if we start worrying about the stock price, that will change the way we work and make games."
[source: Serkan Toto]
News
With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.
Top Stories
News
1 hour, 33 minutes ago
Keywords, Active Fence, Take This, and Modulate create Gaming Safety Coalition
News
Mar 18th, 2024
SuperScale's ebook serves organic growth tips, making mobile games more sustainable
Feature
45 minutes ago
Game Analysis: Deconstructing Jelly Run 2048 - Boosting rewarded ads and retention with a new meta
Feature
Mar 18th, 2024
Hot Five: Monopoly GO’s next-level UA, Supercell’s psychological analysis, and AI use for NPC dialogue
Events
MIX & Kinda Funny Showcase 2024 | North America | Mar 14th |
Game Developers Conference 2024 | North America | Mar 18th |
#notGDC 2024 | Mar 18th | |
Day of the Devs: San Francisco | North America | Mar 18th |
Nvidia GTC 2024 | North America | Mar 18th |
Game Connection America 2024 | Europe | Mar 18th |
Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2024 | North America | Mar 18th |
European Game Showcase 2024 | North America | Mar 19th |
Popular Stories
Interview
Mar 12th, 2024
Supercell’s Head of Live Games Sara Bach talks company changes, world-beating live ops, and how to get back on top
News
Mar 13th, 2024
Monopoly GO makes $2 billion in 10 months with "less than a quarter" of that spent on UA
News
Mar 15th, 2024