Several Nintendo smartphone games are on the rise, starting with the new smartphone RPG Dragalia Lost, Super Mario Run which is approaching its second anniversary, and Fire Emblem Heroes that is looking to get its version 3.0 around the end of the year.
Here’s an update on Nintendo’s mobile titles from president Shuntaro Furukawa from the company’s latest financial results briefing:
Dragalia Lost, a new and original game application developed in collaboration with Cygames, was released on September 27. Initially, distribution was going to be limited to the four regions of Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao, but the US was added when the service began for the title.
This title is an original application using completely new IP, and no existing Nintendo IP. Even so, the game attracted lots of consumer interest in the US and the rest of Asia, let alone Japan, even before the service launch, with over 1 million people pre-registering for this title. This confirmed the presence of a certain number of consumers who are keen to play this game, and even though the service launch was only slightly more than one month ago, we have already recorded sales approaching 4 billion yen by now since its service launch on September 27. In the US, the game achieved a high user-review rating of 4.8 stars in the App Store, indicating a positive reception for the game’s content.
Summing this up, we think we could state that this has been a steady kick-off as a challenge for creating new IP that has been embraced by consumers around the globe. Going forward, we will be putting our efforts into television commercials and other promotional activities, while also making effective use of events and updates, in order to further expand the ranks of consumers playing this title.
It has been almost two years since the release of Super Mario Run, but the number of downloads still continues to grow and the application is now installed on nearly 300 million devices around the world. Downloads in countries outside of Japan continue and now account for over 90% of the total. As an evergreen Nintendo title for every owner of a smart device, it has entered a cycle where a certain stable number of new downloads take place every month. The application is significant in that it brings Mario to a wide range of consumers in countries and regions not touched by our dedicated video game platform business. In this regard, it plays an important role in helping to maximize the number of people exposed to Nintendo IP.
Fire Emblem Heroes continues to grow, with a sustained number of active users and total sales rising at a steady pace. The share outside of Japan continues to expand gradually, and the number of active users outside of Japan has already surpassed the number inside Japan. This is one example where sustained operation of a smart-device application has led to the cultivation of markets outside of Japan. We plan a major update to Version 3.0 around the end of the year and intend to keep pouring effort into development and operation so even greater numbers of consumers continue to enjoy the game.
Around a year has passed since Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was first released, and more than half of the currently active users have continued playing the game since the initial release last year. The game has sustained a number of continually active users, particularly among adult female consumers. By continually tweaking the game content and frequently holding various events, we have managed to gradually improve the business situation for this game. We are progressing with the development of an update that will broaden the scope of the gameplay. Details will be announced closer to the time of the update.
In addition to the titles described above, we also plan to start a service for Mario Kart Tour, a Mario Kart application for smart devices, sometime during the current fiscal year ending in March 2019. With titles like these we intend to continue to expand our smart-device business and make it a pillar of revenue for Nintendo.
Dragalia Lost, Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp are available for iOS and Android.
