March 20, 2026

Nintendo Magic Strikes Again with Pokemon Pokopia

by Will Guyatt, Tech Journalist and Broadcaster

It’s a weird time to be a games industry watcher. More and more are playing games and sales continue to grow, but the sector is moving through an unrivalled period of change and restructuring, and that can be hard to reconcile.

In the last week or so, the Cosy Games genre has garnered mainstream attention, thanks to the huge and (to many) unexpected success of the Pokémon spin-off, Pokopia. Despite everything else going on in the world right now, I found myself explaining the genre - and reaffirming the magic of Nintendo - just a little after 5am on a business news focused radio show for those “in the city.”

And it’s easy to see why those in the investment world have had their interest piqued by Cosy Games - as Nintendo’s market-value grew around $14bn in just five days - thanks to the unassuming Pokopia - built around 30 years of Pokémon lore and IP, and some gameplay mechanics from a Dragon Quest game. You and I have known forever that games don’t need to be all about flashy graphics or displays of tech supremacy - they just need to be fun.

The realisation that Pokopia shows another way is making some waves with those on the outside looking in, who had grown to believe growth had to come from bigger, boomier, bombastic experiences on the shiniest tech. Nintendo has been demonstrating that exclusive IP and innovation can trump 4K AI-enhanced visual showcases for years, and that appears to be factored into Nintendo’s share price.

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The Financial Times wrote an explainer on Nintendo’s appeal on the back of Pokopia’s success this week - which reads a little like a 137-year overnight success story.

I’m all for Nintendo digging into its IP archive and mixing up genres. Let’s hope the Pilotwings RPG I’ve been dreaming of finally happens!

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