Nintendo’s shares have hit a record high as expectations around Switch 2 continue to grow, and amid speculation Saudi Arabia is set to further invest in Japanese video game stock.
That’s according to Nikkei Asia (thanks VGC), which reports shares of Nintendo temporarily hit a record 7,902 today on Japan’s Nikkei stock index – up 5% from yesterday – pushing its market capitalisation over 10 trillion yen ($69bn) for the first time since November 2007.
The publication notes the reason behind the recent surge in Nintendo’s share price is two-fold. Firstly, growth expectations for the company are high in general, thanks to the success of its intellectual property related business, which recently announced a live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, alongside the expected launch of Switch 2.
Additionally, Nikkei Asia says there’s strong speculation “oil money” is set to buy more Japanese video game stocks, given Saudi Arabia’s controversial sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, bought additional shares in Koei Tecmo Holdings earlier this week. Notably, the Public Investment Fund already upped its stake in Nintendo several times last year, with February 2023 bringing news it now held an 8.26 percent share of the company, making it Nintendo’s largest outside investor.
As for Switch 2 (or whatever the new hardware ends up being called), Nintendo is yet to publicly confirm the existence of the console – but as we reported in September, Eurogamer understands the company held developer presentations for its new hardware behind closed doors at last year’s Gamescom. Nintendo has since insisted the claims – including a similar story from VGC – are “untrue”, but persistent reports (including news that Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick was briefed by Nintendo on Switch 2 in December 2022) have increasingly pointed to a “late 2024” release for the new hardware.