Nintendo has announced that it is cutting back on the mobile phone gaming market after their numerous attempts did not produce any good results. The announcement comes after the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the release of Sensor Tower data that showed different mobile game developers showing a massive increase in traffic and revenue while Nintendo titles suffered in terms of both. This combined with the huge success of Animal Crossing: New Horizon on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo has announced that it can make profitable video games on its own platform.
The major Nintendo titles currently available on mobile include Dragalia Lost, Super Mario Run, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, and Fire Emblem Heroes. All the titles except Animal Crossing Pocket Camp showed a negative result in terms of revenue change from the period February 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020. Dragalia was down 41%, Super Mario Run 24%, Fire Emblem Heroes 19% whereas Animal Crossing Pocket Camp showed an increase of 45% according to Sensor Data’s results. Nintendo was also using a strategy different from its competitors where it asked the developers not to force players to spend too much in their games.
As reported by Bloomberg, Nintendo opted for this strategy as they do not want to ruin their brand equity. This was revealed by some of the developers working on mobile games for Nintendo however Nintendo declined to comment on this. Nintendo’s titles such as Mario Kart Tour and Super Mario Run also come with on-time purchase plans for in-game content but still, both titles have seen an increasing trend of declining revenue overtime this forcing Nintendo to switch to a place where it actually makes the magic happen and that is their own platform Nintendo Switch.
What do you think of Nintendo quitting in the mobile phone gaming industry and solely focusing on their own platforms? Let us know in the comments section below.
