News

Super Mario Run's sales failed to meet Nintendo's expectations

But Fire Emblem Heroes is doing well

Super Mario Run's sales failed to meet Nintendo's expectations

Nintendo's Super Mario Run has failed to perform to the company's internal expectations since launching in December 2016.

As reported by the Nikkei Asia Review, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said that it "did not meet our expectations." This is despite a 5% conversion rate from 78 million downloads in its first month.

Fire Emblem Heroes is instead where the company is generating its mobile revenue. The game continues to perform well in Japan, and is seeing moderate success elsewhere.

Keep it interesting

However, Nintendo is not looking to focus on the traditional free-to-play model. One senior company official said that "we honestly prefer the 'Super Mario Run' model."

Super Mario Run launched on Android on March 23rd, some three months after first releasing on iOS. Its user reviews are already far more positive than its first launch as Nintendo fans have rushed to defend the game.

Nintendo will likely be using its mobile games to drive business elsewhere, such as its recently-launched Switch console. It has already sold an estimated 1.5 million units of the 2 million initially shipped to stores.


Tags:
Editor

Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.