Video Games

More and more companies are being swept up by 'Pokemon Go' phenomenon

The smartphone game "Pokemon Go" has proven a big hit with fans in Europe and the U.S., and as it rolls out across Asia, the game is having surprising impacts on businesses.

The game, which uses augmented reality and geo-caching (where digital objects are hidden around the real world for players to find) was initially released on July 6 in Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. and later released in Europe and Japan.

Several south-east Asian countries finally got to enjoy the game on August 5. And, in order to better play the game, many residents in Indonesia and elsewhere have switched mobile services providers to get packages with more data and sales of modems (to improve mobile and wi-fi connections) have risen, according to a report by Reuters.

Pokemon Go on Apple iPhones
Getty Images

Earlier this week, U.S. sales data tracked by market researchers NPD Group proved "Pokemon Go" has created a significant halo effect for the games company Nintendo, which publishes games in the Pokemon franchise -- the smartphone game was developed by U.S. company Nantic.

Sales of Nintendo's handheld console, the 3DS, in July were 80 percent higher compared to the year before.

Sales of older Pokemon games also spiked. July sales of "Pokemon X" and "Pokemon Y" were 200 percent higher than the same month last year. The games were originally released in 2013. These are positive signs for the sales of the next games in the franchise, "Pokemon Sun" and "Pokemon Moon", which will be released in November this year.

These figures help to validate Nintendo's mobile strategy, analysts say. For many years, the games company had been focused solely on its dedicated video game systems, but announced plans to enter the mobile gaming sector in 2015.

"The latest sales results for the 3DS handheld and Pokemon games reflect the impact that engaging audiences at scale on mobile platforms can have on adjacent markets," Piers Harding-Rolls, director and head of games research at IHS Markit Technology, told CNBC via email.

"It does validate Nintendo's broader strategy to engage users on smart devices and then convert some of those users into customers of its dedicated products but the continued success of this strategy really depends on how the company and its partners execute on mobile."

The next question for Nintendo is which other franchise will it try to integrate with mobile?

"Now that Nintendo has seen the scale of the success of 'Pokemon Go', I believe the company will be more inclined to bring beloved game franchises to the mobile platforms. Something the company has been very reluctant about in the past," George Jijiashvili, wearables and VR analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC via email.

"Nintendo has already confirmed that it plans on bringing Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing franchises to mobile and I expect more to follow soon."

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