Nintendo seems hopeful that the Super Mario Run jump to Android will expand the userbase, but is unlikely to offer much in terms of earnings.
In an interview with Nikkei, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima revealed that the company is less than thrilled with the profits from mobile title Super Mario Run, specifically that revenue from the game “did not meet our expectations.”
The game lets players test out the first world before being required to pay $9.99 to unlock the rest. Although the game saw more than 78 million downloads, only 5 percent of those players paid to unlock the game as of January.
iOS users have had access to Mario’s first mobile game since last December, and the game finally made its way to Android on Wednesday (one day earlier that announced). According to Nikkei, the leap to Android is expected to increase the userbase for the game, but due to the pay-once model, there is no expectation for a big increase in earnings.
During a Q&A with investors back in February, Nintendo stated that it plans to release 2-3 mobile games per year, stating that its strategy is to tackle the mobile market by continuing to make use of its existing IPs in an effort to recapture the interest of older gamers as well as young children in an effort to “overcome generational gaps so parents and children can play together.”
