Nintendo plans to release three mobile games per year: Report

Nintendo wants to release two or three mobile games per year.

Nintendo has said that it will bring more games to smartphones. In an interview with Japanese newspaper Sankei, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said there are still two to three mobile games slated to land in 2017, although he didn’t reveal any more details. In the beginning of this year, Nintendo announced both Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing would be making their way to mobile, though exact details have been a closely guarded secret. Well, looks like they could hit smartphones next year.

Nintendo’s most recent mobile game, Super Mario Run, has been officially downloaded more than 50 million times. This is despite the $10 (Rs 620) price tag for some of the features. Given the euphoria and craze, it’s evident that Nintendo would like to bring more classic titles to mobile. While Super Mario Run has so far been made available on iOS,  Kimishima says he expects the number to touch 100 million. He also said that Super Mario Run will be released on Android sometime next year.

Also read: Super Mario Run first impressions: A perfect gift from Nintendo for the fans

In the interview, Kimishima also tried to clear doubts among investors about Nintendo’s mobile strategy. Investors aren’t happy that the game has been priced at $10, instead they want Nintendo to follow more popular freemium models like others. However, Kimishima said the model will entirely depend upon the nature of each game.

It is still unclear in which direction Nintendo’s mobile strategy is heading. On one hand, Nintendo is eyeing the booming mobile gaming market, while on the other it’s been trying to lure console gamers with its Switch console, which is slated to release in March 2017.