Nintendo fans can expect more mobile games from the Japanese company in 2017!
With the success of Super Mario Run on iOS handsets, Nintendo seems to be considering the mobile gaming industry as a potential booster for its business. Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said that they "now see mobile as the third pillar of the company's business, which has until now been focused on dedicated home and handheld consoles."
Kimishima said that the company would have two or more mobile games in 2017. He also said in an article published in Kyoto Shimbun that there will be two to three titles to arrive at smart gadgets annually starting next year. While in his talk with Sankei, the president said that there would be "more than three smartphone games" every year.
Another good news is, Kimishima has confirmed that the recently released Super Mario Run will be Android-compatible next year. This game immediately became a hit with 40 million downloads just four days after its release garnering an approximated amount of $14 million. In fact, it broke the record of Pokemon Go as Apple's "fastest downloaded app" during its first week of release. It is also ranked number 1 in App Stores in 140 nations.
The mobile game is a way of winning Nintendo users back to consoles. Video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto said, "certainly when we first embarked on our mobile strategy, a key element for us was the idea of bringing our characters and intellectual property to a much broader audience." He further noted that the company was surprised "by the impact that Pokemon Go has had in terms of bringing the audience back to our own games."
Other than Super Mario, Nintendo is also expected to release Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem in mobile apps stores next year.