Nintendo stock rises after mobile investment
But Dwango Co. share buy is ad-related, not content
Nintendo's stock rose by over five per cent yesterday, after the publisher announced a significant stock investment in mobile content company Dwango Co.
Nintendo purchased 612,200 shares in Dwango, pushing the mobile service's stock up by 21 per cent on the TSE. Nintendo's own shares saw a reciprocal 5.2 per cent rise.
However, fans hoping to play the Japanese platform holder's deep catalogue of games on their smartphones shouldn't get over-excited; spokesperson Yasuhiro Minagawa stated clearly that the company has no plans to distribute any IP through Dwango's services, reiterating that Nintendo's games are for Nintendo's platforms.
According to Minagawa, Dwango Chairman Nobuo Kawakami personally asked Nintendo to purchase the shares in order to liquidate some assets. Nintendo currently uses Dwango's network to advertise its games, and will continue to do so.
Dwango was originally a US company best known for providing dial-up access to early online multiplayer games like Doom. When the spread of the internet made that business model obsolete, the company's Japanese branch continued to flourish, moving its focus towards content and publishing before settling in mobile.