Pokemon Go Launch Adds $9 Billion to Nintendo's Market Cap, International Release Coming Soon

Pokemon Go, the newly released mobile game in which players catch creatures in the real world, is already a big hit--and it's not even out in every major market yet.

The mobile game is only available in the US, Australia, and New Zealand. However, The Wall Street Journal reports today that the game is coming to Europe, Japan, and other Asian nations "within a few days." This information comes from "people familiar with plans for the game."

Last week, Pokemon Go developer Niantic Labs acknowledged the game's server issues and "paused" its international rollout for the time being. Thankfully for fans in those regions, it appears the wait won't be too much longer.

WSJ also reports that Pokemon Go's release has made a huge impact on Nintendo's business outlook. Shares of the company rose 25 percent in Tokyo today, building on increases from last Thursday and Friday. This comes out to $9 billion worth of market capitalization, pushing Nintendo's total market cap to almost $28 billion.

Pokemon Go is not made by Nintendo, as it's instead developed by the Google spinoff Niantic Labs in collaboration with The Pokemon Company. As WSJ notes, Nintendo owns 32 percent of The Pokemon Company, so when The Pokemon Company has success, Nintendo does, too.

The game is free, though there are some items players can spend real-money to acquire. Given the game's massive userbase, those microtransactions may prove to be lucrative.

In other news about Pokemon Go, Niantic Labs has laid out some of its plans for new features coming in the future such as a trading system and improvements to AR. Additionally, a report said Pokemon Go is now bigger than Tinder in the US and is closing in on Twitter when it comes to daily active users.

For lots more on Pokemon Go, check out GameSpot's roundup of everything you need to know. Keep checking back with GameSpot for more on Pokemon Go.