Now that Nintendo has released their first smartphone app with Miitomo, the company discussed more on smart device business and future Miitomo plans.
I have explained this on some occasions in the past as well, but Nintendo’s smart device business has three purposes.
First, we want to use smart devices to maximize the number of people who come into contact with Nintendo IP.
Next, of course we aim for the smart device business to be profitable on its own.
Furthermore, we want to create synergy with the dedicated video game system business to realize the full potential of our entire business.
We have placed no restrictions on which Nintendo IPs can be developed for smart devices, so we continue to discuss the best ways to bring various characters and worlds to smart devices.
We understand that the value of the Nintendo characters and game titles that our consumers have supported for so long comes from the treasured experiences of playing on Nintendo’s game systems, and the “hand-crafted” feel emblematic of Nintendo’s products. It is not just a matter of character popularity.
This is why we feel that it would be a mistake to simply release our game titles in their current form on smart devices.
Therefore, we are carefully selecting IPs that will provide the consumers with strong value suitable to smart devices. We are working to provide a high-quality experience optimized to smart devices.
To kick off this new business, Nintendo recently released our first application for smart devices, Miitomo.
In Miitomo, the user creates a character likeness called a Mii that sparks conversations with the user’s friends on a wide range of topics, letting you discover things you never knew about your close friends. This is a unique application focused on communication.
Service began first in Japan on March 17th, and expanded to 15 more countries worldwide, including the U.S., on March 31st. We currently offer service in 16 countries and 8 languages.
I have heard that it is unprecedented for a company making its first foray into the smart device business to support so many countries and languages at such an early stage.
As a result of our global efforts, consumers worldwide are enjoying Miitomo. We have already passed 10 million unique users at present.
On top of the number of the unique users, the number of conversations exchanged within Miitomo has exceeded 300 million. In addition, the “Miifoto” functionality allows users to create unique pictures with their Mii, and users have already created more than 20 million of these pictures.
Miitomo aims for further expansion in the future, with plans for regular updates and extension of service to additional countries. We are considering possibilities for launching service in South America and Asia.
Through this support, we expect Miitomo to play an even bigger role on the global stage as the forerunner of Nintendo’s new business activities.
As for Miitomo, our first priority was to bring more consumers around the world in contact with Nintendo entertainment. Items are available as in-game purchases for consumers who want to deepen their experience, but we have designed Miitomo so that it is possible to have plenty of fun enjoying this new mode of communication even without making in-game purchases.
As a result, users are enjoying Miitomo across the globe, with over 75% of users outside of Japan at present.
We expect this percentage to rise even higher in the future as we consider service expansions to South America and Asia.
We believe this shows that Nintendo has made real progress in advancing our smart device business on a global scale.
We will follow Miitomo by releasing new applications using the Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing IPs globally, and our plan has not changed in terms of releasing around five titles by March 2017.
