No doubt thanks in part to the early success of its new Switch console, Nintendo’s share price has hit a seven-year high.
The company’s share price rose to ¥31,880 ($284), a 102% increase year-over-year. This exceeds the short-lived jump Nintendo experienced last year following the launch of Pokemon Go, Niantic’s globally popular AR mobile game. While Nintendo didn’t have a hand in developing Pokemon Go, the app’s immediate success pushed the company’s market value to hits highest point since April 2010. Despite this significant increase, the company’s value is still substantially lower than its peak in 2007, when Nintendo’s share price topped ¥70,000 thanks to fervor around the motion-controlled Wii.
Demand for Switch has been strong since the console launched worldwide back in March and quickly became the fastest-selling system in Nintendo’s history. Despite supply shortages, Switch was the No. 1 selling console in the US for both March and April; No. 2 was Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition, the recently discontinued plug-and-play replica of the company’s first home console.
Nintendo’s dedicated handheld 3DS, meanwhile, also continues to perform strongly. The company recently unveiled another iteration called the New 2DS XL, which goes on sale in the US and Europe on July 28. Nintendo is targeting the New 2DS XL to consumers who want something “in between” the higher-end New 3DS XL and the budget-priced 2DS.
Nintendo is looking to continue Switch’s momentum throughout the rest of the year with a number of high-profile releases for the console. The cartoony brawler Arms is scheduled to arrive on June 16; we recently went hands-on with the game and found it to be deeper than you might expect. Nintendo is letting Switch owners try Arms early with a free Global Testpunch demo that kicks off this weekend, though only at certain times; you can find the full list here.
The team-based shooter Splatoon 2 is also slated to release this summer on July 21. Nintendo recently announced a Japanese-exclusive Switch bundle that includes the game and neon green and pink Joy-Cons, though that quickly sold out (fans can still purchase the empty box, however).
Nintendo is also reportedly planning to follow the short-lived NES Classic with a miniature replica of the Super NES. The plug-and-play console is rumored to launch sometime by the end of the year.