In early 2016 Nintendo had finally made its first foray into the mobile gaming world with the release of Miitomo, a "social" minigame app, which would eventually find itself unsuccessful and shut down not too long after. Though it didn't make much money for the company, it paved the way for others, like Super Mario Run and Pokemon Go to become smash sensations and rake in significant amounts of profit. What may surprise some, though, is that out of the Nintendo developed (That means no Pokemon Go, as it's made by Niantic) apps, Fire Emblem Heroes took in the most money, making 300 million dollars in its first year. To compare it to Super Mario Run's $56 million, Fire Emblem Heroes made 5 times more at $295 million.

(Chart credit: SensorTower)
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Though the two games use differing payment styles--Super Mario run has a one type payment unlock, while Fire Emblem Heroes is a gacha that is geared more towards constantly spending money on items for character pulls, this data clearly shows that Nintendo has an audience that is more than willing to spend big money on mobile titles featuring its intellectual properties. Despite Nintendo claiming that they prefer the one time payment method, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, their next mobile title, ended up using time-based microtransactions, earning $20 million in its first two months on the Google Play and App Store. With the recently announced Mario Kart mobile game, it raises questions about what direction Nintendo will be taking their mobile gaming branch in the future.

Regardless, this is more than successful data, especially for a game franchise that was almost gone for good, due to waning popularity a mere 6 years ago. What are your opinions? Do you like Nintendo's mobile offerings? Do you play Fire Emblem Heroes, and have you given into the temptation to spend money on the app? Share your comments below!

Source: Sensortower

 

[WhiteMaze]

Mario Kart for mobile:

Losing this race? Well you can always buy a Blue Shell for $4.99 or a bullet bill for $9.99!

 

[fatsquirrel]

Mario Kart for mobile:

Losing this race? Well you can always buy a Blue Shell for $4.99 or a bullet bill for $9.99!

Sad thing is, this might actually happen...

 

[sarkwalvein]

Mario Kart for mobile:

Losing this race? Well you can always buy a Blue Shell for $4.99 or a bullet bill for $9.99!

That is dangerous.
Of course you will want to get that Bullet Bill fast and at the distance of a tap during the race.
So please, enable instantaneous credit card auto payment, and just tap the Bill button for a swift in-race delivery.

Went bankrupt after the second race...

 

[leon315]

impressive numbers that CLASH ROYAL has ever made! never expected that game could be such popular tho.

 

[Pluupy]

Mostly thanks to the whale minority with no self control and/or lots of money. Fire Emblem Heroes is extremely easy to play without spending any money.

The most forgiving gacha game, in my experience, with Final Fantasy Dissidia Opera Omnia coming at second and Shin Megami Tensei Dx2 Liberation at third, imo.

 

[Chary]

Mostly thanks to the whale minority with no self control and/or lots of money. Fire Emblem Heroes is extremely easy to play without spending any money.

The most forgiving gacha game, in my experience, with Final Fantasy Dissidia Opera Omnia coming at second and Shin Megami Tensei Dx2 Liberation at third, imo.

This. I warily installed Fate G/O, but realized that the gacha world is a harsh one, and that I'm best left sticking to Heroes' simple and relatively non-wallet-destructive nature.

 

[BORTZ]

Nice, that's pretty good. I hope Nintendo keeps trying to get into the mobile phone game. I would love to see more of their stuff come to mobile. But not all, mind you.

 

[eriol33]

I just hope nintendo will not become the next konami. I am genuinely worried.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Don't worry. I guess Mario would do particularly good in Pachinkos.

 

[digipimp75]

UGH, goddamn casuals are ruining gaming.

 

[leonmagnus99]

they steal dat buck braah

 

[DJPlace]

if only FE:H would work on nox going check and see if it works on bluestacks...

 

[Veho]

Next thing you know, Nintendo switches exclusively to mobile games and closes their hardware division.

 

[Taleweaver]

Impressive numbers. They're only made scarier by the comparisons. How the hell does a relatively niche franchise rake in 5 times as much money as nintendo's poster child?

Mostly thanks to the whale minority with no self control and/or lots of money.

UGH, goddamn casuals are ruining gaming.

Yeah...no. Nice theories, and as much as I'd like to buy into them, the numbers speak for themselves. Why don't casual gamers go with the most known franchise? The very name implies that they don't search for deep strategies (meaning: a one button runner with a famous face should be their go to game any day).

The whale minority could perhaps explain 1 or 2 million, but nearly 300? Again: on the lesser known franchise? Sorry...I just don't believe it.

Unfortunately, the article breaks down the number on the wrong statistics. What I'd like to know is more in the area of how much the game(s) cost, what the total userbase is (meaning: downloaded total players) and the average spend money of the paying customers. And more importantly: the median of the money spent (sort of like the average, but more a "what the most people spend" rather than the calculated average). It's probably not released, but rather than arguing what MIGHT be the cause for this heap of money (dissing a large group of customers as both dumb and rich is too easy of an answer), I'd rather see what actually causes this sort of income.

 

[Spectral Blizzard]

Nintendo really likes phones, huh?

 

[WhiteMaze]

Nice, that's pretty good. I hope Nintendo keeps trying to get into the mobile phone game. I would love to see more of their stuff come to mobile. But not all, mind you.

I made a few posts, several years ago, where I predicted Nintendo's jump into the mobile market. I even claimed Pokemon Go was merely a market test from Nintendo to judge the mobile potential.

I was mocked and flamed vigorously.

Turns out I was correct.

 

[BORTZ]

I made a few posts, several years ago, where I predicted Nintendo's jump into the mobile market. I even claimed Pokemon Go was merely a market test from Nintendo to judge the mobile potential.

I was mocked and flamed vigorously.

Turns out I was correct.

technically Pokemon Go is Niantic isnt it?

 

[WhiteMaze]

technically Pokemon Go is Niantic isnt it?

Indeed it is. Nintendo wasn't going to take a loss on it if it failed.

Hence why I called it a market test.

The next Pokemon games to hit the mobile market will be fully owned by Nintendo, I guarantee it.

 

[osaka35]

technically Pokemon Go is Niantic isnt it?

The Pokemon Company is made up of Nintendo, gamefreak, and creatures. They kind of sort of split stuff up between them, with all of them sharing ownership and profits in different ways. Niantic got a license for the game, and there is a lot of interaction between the two companies (you know how protective Nintendo is of its properties), but it is Niantic's game. Nintendo sees about 19% or so of the profits from Pokemon Go. Not sure if gamefreak or creatures sees any of that profit, though.