Neverwinter Nights 2 rises following announcement of expansion

Atari, Inc.’s (NASDAQ: ATAR) Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC) has declined 29.5% over the past month in a downward decay that has stretched months. Many traders questioned the ultimate success of the blockbuster Neverwinter Nights’ sequel as Atari has remained silent on the game’s sales since its release last November and the game has been absent from US Top 10 PC games charts. The stock had attracted one of the largest short interest on the simExchange.

Yesterday, the selling trend snapped and the shorts were squeezed to cover their positions following a press release from Atari, announcing Mask of the Betrayer as the expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2 and that the franchise has sold over three million copies worldwide. The simExchange’s top trader, Zukaus, pointed to the previous press release when Neverwinter Nights 2 had gone gold that claimed the franchise had sold two million copies. Zukaus inferred that Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC) has sold somewhere near a million units, putting the game over the 980,000 copies sales prediction the market was forecasting after months of shorting. The market agreed with Zukaus' comments as the stock rose 24.16 DKP (24.65%) yesterday to close at 122.16 DKP (forecasts 1.22 million copies sold globally). The stock continues to rise today, up 7.33%.