Today, a senior Nintendo official made clear thatSuper Mario Run’s premium pricing is the preferred business model for Nintendo on mobile. Moreover, the official revealed thatSuper Mario Run’s revenue did not meet expectations.
While talking aboutSuper Mario Run’s shortcomings, the official made the comparison to Nintendo’s second mobile game release,Fire Emblem Heroes.But even thoughFire Emblem Heroeshas proven more profitableas a freemium title, another Nintendo official described the game as an, “outlier.”
Although Super Mario Runis another endless runner on mobile devices, its unique qualities include an upfront cost and no backend microtransactions. It, like many endless runners, features a timer system, which prevents people from playing more than a certain amount every day. Players can only participate in the Toad Rally, for example, five times per day using tickets.
It’s this mixing of paradigms - game systems commonly associated with freemium games but with a premium cost - that has caused much of the controversy aroundSuper Mario Run. It’s probably also a significant contributor to the game’s lack of success.
Super Mario Runis currently available to download for free on all platforms, but takes a one-time purchase of $9.99 to fully unlock. That’s why it’s not entirely clear whether Nintendo is endorsing one-time purchase mobile games or just the opposite with regards to the gachamodel ofFire Emblem Heroes. Nintendo has previously implied that the free-to-start business model will be used with future games, but that may have changed in recent months.
If anything, Nintendo has shown that their approach to each mobile game is malleable.Super Mario Runhas received significant updatessurrounding what sort of content is available for free and how players access content after they’ve paid. And none of those changes have impacted Nintendo’s dedication to constantly releasing new content updates forSuper Mario RunorFire Emblem Heroes. Nintendo is certainly dedicated to continued mobile development, even if the details are still in flux.
Super Mario Runis nowavailable on iOS and Android devices.
