Nintendo is shaping up to expand itself as a company and as a major economic pillar. With a lot of ongoing projects, people are doubting that Nintendo would be able to maintain their established products and services. However, it is with actions like Nintendo making a promise to develop more games for the 3DSthat keep any doubts at bay. And now, Nintendo has ventured on to the mobile gaming scene where it has already released some games.
Nintendo On Their Mobile Games
Currently, Nintendo has released three games for mobile devices such as Miitomo, Super Mario Run, and Fire Emblem: Heroes. In an article by Phone Arena.com, Tatsumi Kimishima, President of Nintendo, says to Time Magazine, that the three games released are experiments and each have their specific roles to play.
Miitomo is the first mobile game that Nintendo released, and its role is quite different from the other two games. Miitomo was released so that the company would know if they can get people interested in Nintendo characters. As a result of this experiment, in less than 24 hours after its release, Miitomo had three million users and was number one in the App Store.
Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem: Heroes are experiments to find out the best way to earn revenue from players. Nintendo avoided using the typical Free to Play mechanics with the release of Super Mario Run, wherein the first levels are free, however if players want to move on in the game, they need to pay a $10 unlocking fee. So far, Super Mario Run has had 78 million downloads, and has brought in a whopping $53 million. Kimishima states that they were hoping that 10 percent of the players would pay to unlock the game, unfortunately they haven't reached that goal yet. In an analysis of the player base, the game is available in 150 countries but the top 20 on the list accounts for 90 percent of the revenue they received. Kimishima further says that taking a look at all the players in those 20 countries that paid for the game, although they are still not at 10 percent, the numbers are rising.
As For Fire Emblem: Heroes, Nintendo used a free to play mechanic plus in game purchases, that would in the end generate revenue. Kimishima goes on to say that just after eight days of release, the game has earned $5 million already.
As a result of these two monetary experiments, Nintendo is gaining confidence in their mobile business effort.
Nintendo's Goal For Mobile Games
Kimishima also mentioned the goals for their Mobile business. The first is to push the company's IP library to a larger audience. Second, Nintendo will make its mobile business a "pillar in and of itself" with its services and products. Lastly, Nintendo wants their mobile games to help in growing the sales of other titles and franchises under the company.
