Many big name developers have created apps for the mobile space, often augmenting already existing properties on other platforms. For a long time, Nintendo was hesitant to do that, seemingly over fears that it would eat into its lucrative portable gaming business. In 2016, though, that all changed and following the massive success of Pokémon Go, Super Mario Run became the fastest growing app ever.
While it’s arguable that Nintendo needs to learn a little more about how to market its content in the world of app stores — the $10 charge for Super Mario Run’s full game hasn’t been stomached by more than a few million — the fact that it managed to pull in close to 80 million players already, even without an Android version, shows there is huge potential on the platform.
That Android version is expected to show up in March and could lead to a big resurgence in the app’s growth.
With those kinds of numbers, it makes a lot of sense that Nintendo would look to create more mobile content on a regular basis. If it were able to generate a fraction of the buzz that Super Mario Run received and similar numbers for paying customers, mobile could become one of Nintendo’s largest growth sectors.
This announcement came from Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima as part of an earnings call, where he also claimed that there were currently 70 different developers working on over 100 titles for the upcoming Nintendo Switch console.
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