Super Mario Run, Nintendo's sophomore mobile gaming foray after the lackluster Miitomo, hasn't trumpeted the same frenzy Pokémon GO had at the time of its release, at least in terms of fanfare. But the numbers tell a different story.
Per day, Super Mario Run downloads clock around nearly 10 million post-debut, and on Friday the game has officially been downloaded 50 million times. It's clear that there's a market for ports of Nintendo's first-party titles, so it comes as no surprise that Nintendo has confirmed that it will commit to releasing two to three mobile games a year, spurred by the raving success rate of its endless runner.
More Nintendo Games To Be Released For Mobile
That's according to a new interview (translated) with Tatsumi Kimishima, Nintendo's president, who says that there are still two to three games slated for 2017 — reportedly ports of two of its IP (intellectual property): Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem, but nothing is set in stone.
Kimishima hasn't confirmed whether these titles will be released for the two major platforms — iOS and Android — simultaneously, but Super Mario Run, for perspective, was released initially for iOS devices, with the promise of an Android carry-over, though exact dates are nebulous.
While its mobile gaming efforts don't hold a candle to its main profit-generating titles on proprietary platforms, Nintendo is still poised to collect significant Super Mario Run revenue into its coffers, around $14 million for the first three days of release, as per App Annie.
Is Mobile The Future For Nintendo?
For a long time, Nintendo has avoided succumbing to the mobile space, largely relying on its proprietary platforms, like the 3DS, and titles for revenue. But the landscape has changed, and it took a long time before it understood that there's an opportunity to dominate the space, since — chances are — mobile phone users are familiar to the brand, the franchise, and the mascots.
Nintendo possesses a wellspring of easily-recognized brand totems, chief of those being Mario, and it's a foolish decision to keep Mario and others locked into its systems, especially given that mobile platforms aren't premium, only-for-the-rich devices anymore; they're a necessity. Nearly everyone has a smartphone, and nearly everyone knows Mario. Surely, fusing them together isn't rocket science.
That said, Nintendo won't cannibalize its own hardware by only releasing software for other platforms. It's still a hardware and software company. Will it go down as the next Sega, who left the hardware business to become a software-exclusive venture? It's hard to say. It's certain that Nintendo won't do something as haphazard and sudden, but at least it knows the power of mobile. The trick, for them, is to find out how to sway that power toward their direction, so that its brand stays relevant for years to come.
