Super Mario, Pokemon creator profits soar amid COVID pandemic

The profits of Japanese video game manufacturer Nintendo, the maker of the popular video games including Super Mario and Pokemon, rose sharply during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lockdowns were imposed around the world to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which lead people to remain at home and resort to video games to quell their boredom.

The number of users playing video games also increased during the pandemic. Nintendo reported that in the first six months of the financial year (when people were confined to their homes due to the epidemic), the company's profits tripled. According to Japanese company Nintendo, a six-month profit rose to 213 billion yen (USD 2 billion) from 62 billion yen last year. The company said six-month sales during the epidemic reached 769 billion yen (USD 7.4 billion), up from 444 billion yen last year.

According to Nintendo, more than 5 million units of "Super Mario 3D All-Stars" were sold during those 6 months, while "Paper Mario: The Origami King" sold about 3 million units. On the other hand, the company says that Nintendo's online downloads and mobile sales have also improved significantly over the past six months.

It should be noted that while the global pandemic has damaged the global economy, online games and online shopping companies have made huge profits.