Nintendo 'Monster Hunter XX' coming to console
Nintendo shares rallied over 5 percent on Friday, hitting a more than eight-and-a-half-year high after major game maker Capcom announced a popular game would be coming to the Switch, with investors hoping this will help sales of the gaming giant's flagship console.
Shares of the Japanese firm closed up at 33,510 yen ($300.72), marking a 5.48 percent rise from the day before. This is the highest level since October 2008. Nintendo added $2.2 billion to its market capitalization as a result of the share price move.
On Friday, Capcom, the game studio behind major titles including the "Street Fighter" and "Resident Evil" franchises, announced that "Monster Hunter XX" would be coming to the Nintendo Switch.
The game is not well known in western
markets but the franchise is a massive hit in Japan where it will be
released. A version of the game was released on Nintendo's 3DS in 2011
and was credited with helping the handheld console become a success in
Japan, according to Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese gaming consultant and
advisory group, Kantan Games.
"People were buying the 3DS just because of the game. A lot of investors are expecting a similar effect with the Switch," Toto told CNBC in a phone interview on Friday.
Capcom did not release many details about "Monster Hunter XX". While Nintendo has many strong brands of its own such as the Mario or Zelda games, many investors were concerned that it could struggle to attract third party developers onto the Switch console.
But those fears appear to have abated given companies like Electronic Arts, the makers of the FIFA soccer game, and Sega, have developed titles for the console. The announcement of "Monster Hunter XX" adds hope that more third party games could be released.
"It sends a signal that one of the A-list developers in the world is bringing one of their top games to the Switch, and you can also make the point when they do that that others might follow," Toto said.
Nintendo shares are up 36.5 percent year-to-date following the company's foray into the mobile gaming world with the likes of "Pokemon Go" and "Mario Run" which are regarded as fairly successful. The Japanese giant has seen a boost to its brand which has seen fans clamoring to get their hands of a re-released version of the NES Classic last year and renewed interest in Nintendo's famous characters.
There is a lot riding on the Nintendo Switch console which was released earlier this year and has so far sold 2.74 million units.
The company has also set itself high expectations following earnings guidance in April. Nintendo said that operating profit for the fiscal year ending in March 2018 would be 65 billion yen, which if realized, would mark a 121 percent year-on-year increase. It would also be the biggest profit since the fiscal year ended March 2011.
"People were buying the 3DS just because of the game. A lot of investors are expecting a similar effect with the Switch," Toto told CNBC in a phone interview on Friday.
Capcom did not release many details about "Monster Hunter XX". While Nintendo has many strong brands of its own such as the Mario or Zelda games, many investors were concerned that it could struggle to attract third party developers onto the Switch console.
But those fears appear to have abated given companies like Electronic Arts, the makers of the FIFA soccer game, and Sega, have developed titles for the console. The announcement of "Monster Hunter XX" adds hope that more third party games could be released.
"It sends a signal that one of the A-list developers in the world is bringing one of their top games to the Switch, and you can also make the point when they do that that others might follow," Toto said.
Nintendo shares are up 36.5 percent year-to-date following the company's foray into the mobile gaming world with the likes of "Pokemon Go" and "Mario Run" which are regarded as fairly successful. The Japanese giant has seen a boost to its brand which has seen fans clamoring to get their hands of a re-released version of the NES Classic last year and renewed interest in Nintendo's famous characters.
There is a lot riding on the Nintendo Switch console which was released earlier this year and has so far sold 2.74 million units.
The company has also set itself high expectations following earnings guidance in April. Nintendo said that operating profit for the fiscal year ending in March 2018 would be 65 billion yen, which if realized, would mark a 121 percent year-on-year increase. It would also be the biggest profit since the fiscal year ended March 2011.
The Nintendo Switch just got a significant third-party boost: Capcom has announced that it’ll be bringing Monster Hunter XX to the new system. Monster Hunter
isn’t the most popular series in the West, but it’s been huge in Japan
since the days of the PSP, and it was seen as a major coup for Nintendo
when the games eschewed Sony’s PS Vita for the 3DS.
Monster Hunter XX — pronounced “double cross” — is the latest entry in the action RPG series; an expanded version of Monster Hunter X, which was released in the US in 2015 as Monster Hunter Generations. XX came out in Japan in March, and hasn’t yet been announced for the West,
On paper, the Switch is the perfect platform for Monster Hunter.
It could let you play local co-op multiplayer on the go, the main
reason the series took off in Japan in the first place, while also
allowing for big-screen online play at home. It should also be the
best-looking and best-controlling portable version of the game yet,
given the Switch’s power and actual analog sticks.
That said, Capcom has revealed nothing about Monster Hunter XX: Nintendo Switch Ver. beyond the fact that it will exist at some point. There’ll be a Monster Hunter event in Sapporo, Japan this Saturday, so we should know more by the weekend.
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