Pokemon Go launches in France and Hong Kong as Nintendo stock plummets

With a backdrop of Nintendo losing half of its Pokémon Go-induced stock gains, and a France and Hong Kong launch, the game's developer has also revealed expansion plans for the game.

Over the weekend, the extremely popular augmented reality game Pokémon Go launched in France and Hong Kong. The launches, highlighted by the official Twitter account for the game, brings the number of countries that the game can be officially played into 38. However, even in countries the game has not launched in, the game can still be played, as the database of locations is fully populated.

Niantic's CEO John Hanke revealed during a San Diego ComicCon panel about the game on the same day of the France launch that a staple of the Pokémon franchise, player trading, would be added in a forthcoming update. Also coming soon to the tile are changes to how the in-game feature PokeStops work, as well as an increase to the number of collectible Pokémon in the game. Hanke had no timeline for any addition to the games, saying that some of the new features the developer is looking at adding were months or years away.

Nintendo's revelation that Pokémon Go would not appreciably affect earnings had a profound negative impact on the company's stock price on Monday. In one day, Nintendo lost 18 percent of its overall value as the Friday press release saying financial impact of the title would be "limited" drove investors away from the company.

At close of business in Japan, the stock had lost about half of its gains since launch.

Nintendo, Google spin-off Niantic, Google, and The Pokémon Company are the four companies involved in bringing the immensely successful Pokémon Go to market. Nintendo owns 32 percent of the Pokémon Company that maintains the Pokémon intellectual property trademarks, and Google itself handles the mapping data.

Apple could see an extra $3 billion in the next 12 to 24 months from in-app purchase revenue from Pokémon Go, according to analysts. Ninendo's Friday announcement claimed that the financial impact of the title's success would be felt more by The Pokémon Company and developer Niantic.