Gaming
Nintendo is not happy with Super Mario Run’s profits
Nintendo says it “learned a lot” from its first mobile debut for Super Mario Run.
Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.
Super Mario Run, Nintendo’s first foray into mobile games, was downloaded 200 million times, according to a recent earnings report. But even with those astronomical numbers, Nintendo still isn’t pleased. Nintendo says the game has “not yet reached an acceptable profit point.”
The company doesn’t really provide any more specifics, but it sounds like Nintendo is trying to improve on it. “Our aim is for this application to be the definitive Mario application for smart devices,” the company says. “We have learned a lot in terms of game development and deployment that we want to take advantage of moving forward.”
Super Mario Run is free to download, but you have to cough up a one-time fee of $9.99 to unlock the whole game. I don’t know, but maybe that’s the problem right there.
Apptopia, a company that specializes in mobile app data & insights, estimates Nintendo lost out on $8 million in revenue by not pricing the game at $1.99, suggesting they could have increased their revenue by over 1,800% during the promo period.
As one N4G community member points out, “A one time 9.99 fee is not the problem imo. Just release a mario game with normal controls (arrows, a, b) and stop trying to reinvent the wheel. Touch controls are not the best, but I’m sure people wont mind if it is mario.”
► Nintendo