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
Apr 19th, 2024
Week in Views - The search for skills, billion dollar birthdays and terrific transmedia
News
Apr 19th, 2024
Get practical tips into key game development tools and methodologies at the Dubai GameExpo Summit
News
Apr 19th, 2024
Week in Views - The search for skills, billion dollar birthdays and terrific transmedia
Feature
Apr 19th, 2024
New release roundup: Take That: This is Life, Neopets: Tales of Dacardia, Persona 5: The Phantom X and more
Feature
Apr 19th, 2024
Speaker Spotlight: Xsolla's Chris Meredith on making the most of D2C and today's revenue opportunities
Events
Arts DAO Fest 2.0 | Middle East | Apr 20th |
App Promotion Summit London | Europe | Apr 25th |
Esports Future Summit | Middle East | Apr 27th |
Dubai GameExpo Summit 2024 | Middle East | May 1st |
The MENA Games Industry Awards 2024 | Middle East | May 2nd |
GameDev Atlantic 2024 | May 4th | |
Mobidictum Meetup Berlin May 2024 | Europe | May 7th |
Mobidictum Meetup Tallinn May 2024 | Europe | May 21st |
Popular Stories
Feature
Apr 15th, 2024
46 top mobile games in soft launch: CSR 3, Plants vs. Zombies 3, LEGO Hill Climb Adventures, Candy Crush Blast, and more
News
Apr 17th, 2024