Nintendo Stock Value Plummets as Investors Realize the Company Didn’t Make Pokémon Go

It seems like Nintendo’s Pokémon Go-fueled market boom has hit a wall.

The company’s stocks dropped by a sharp 17.7 percent today after investors apparently realized that Nintendo didn’t actually make the popular augmented reality game, according to the BBC.

The plummeting stock price came after Nintendo released a statement Friday disclosing that Pokémon Go will have a “limited” impact on its fiscal situation, The Verge reported.

“Taking the current situation into consideration, (Nintendo) is not modifying the consolidated financial forecast for now,” the company wrote.

The plunge in Nintendo share value has been the worst drop the company has experienced since 1990, according to Bloomberg.

Pokémon Go’s huge popularity seemingly came out of nowhere, and many rushed to invest in Nintendo stocks, possibly mistakenly believing that the game was solely a Nintendo property, and that its popularity would benefit the company, The Verge reported.

In fact, the game is actually a collaborative effort between developer Niantic Labs and The Pokémon Company — the latter of which Nintendo holds just 37 percent of the voting power for.

Nintendo is also a Niantic shareholder, but Bloomberg reports that they only have a 13 percent stake.

Pokémon Go’s release nearly doubled Nintendo’s stock value in the last few weeks, adding $17.6 billion in value to the company.

Interestingly, The Verge notes that Nintendo’s statement did not reveal any new information; the game’s ownership status has been clear since the game was launched.

For their part, Nintendo also announced that they are planning to produce and distribute a device called “Pokémon GO Plus” to be used with the game, perhaps in an effort to further capitalize on its success.

The game debuted in the U.S. earlier in July, and was released in Japan and Hong Kong on Friday and Monday, respectively.