Norway’s oil fund making a killing off Pokémon Go

The fund has earned over one billion kroner on its Nintendo shares since the mobile game was launched, Dagens Næringsliv reported on Wednesday. 

 

The Government Pension Fund, also referred to as the Oil Fund, began investing in Nintendo shares in 1998. As of December 31st, 2015, the fund owned 0.73 percent of Nintendo and Dagens Næringsliv calculated that if that ownership percentage has not changed, the fund has enjoyed an increase of 1.35 billion kroner thanks in large part to the colossal success of the Pokémon Go game. 

 

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The fund’s total shareholding in Nintendo is now worth 2.66 billion kroner, the newspaper reported. 

 

The Oil Fund’s press office said that it did not wish to comment on individual investments. 

 

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Nintendo, The Pokémon Company and Niantic are behind Pokémon Go. The game, which is played through an app that uses smart phone cameras and data from Google Maps, mixes virtual and real words together by placing the Pokémon monsters at various locations throughout, where they can be 'caught' by collectors.

 

It is not exclusively the game’s success that is behind Nintendo’s rise. According to Dagens Næringsliv, the company’s stock value has increased because of the company’s ability to capitalize on the entire Pokémon brand.