Nintendo to Make Next Two Mobile Games Free
11 5월 2016 - 10:10PM
Dow Jones News
TOKYO—Nintendo Co.'s next two smartphone games will be free to
download, the company's partner said on Wednesday, increasing the
likelihood that long-loved console game titles will rank high even
in fiercely competitive app stores.
Tokyo-based DeNA Co., which develops and runs its own smartphone
games, teamed up with Nintendo, the Kyoto-based videogame
powerhouse, last year for the joint project. They released their
first title, Miitomo, earlier this year, and are expected to
produce four more by March 2017.
Nintendo said last month that the next two titles for devices
running Apple Inc.'s iOS and Google-parent Alphabet Inc.'s Android
software would be rolled out by the coming autumn. They are
role-playing franchise Fire Emblem and community simulation Animal
Crossing, both long-running popular game series from the company
most known for Mario the plumber and the Legend of Zelda.
"Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing are both free-to-start apps,"
DeNA Chief Executive Isao Moriyasu told The Wall Street Journal. A
Nintendo spokeswoman confirmed Mr. Moriyasu's comment.
Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima last month declined to make
clear how the company plans to earn revenue from the two new
titles, and analysts were divided whether Fire Emblem, a game with
a vast and dedicated fan base, would adopt free-to-play style.
So-called free-to-start, more commonly known as free-to-play, is
a strategy often employed by mobile-game companies that allows
users to start playing for free, but offers in-app purchases such
as strong characters and special items that allow players to become
more effective in the game.
Unlike traditional games that users buy and then play, the newer
business model lowers the barrier to entry for players, thus
increasing revenue opportunities for game makers by spreading their
products to people who may otherwise never have gotten interested
in games.
Serkan Toto, a Tokyo-based game consultant, said free-to-play is
"the king" in today's game industry, stressing that Nintendo should
embrace the trend to survive.
With its popular characters and passionate fan base, Nintendo
has already proven successful in the smartphone game. Miitomo has
been downloaded by at least 10 million users world-wide in about a
month since its launch. The communication game, built around
Nintendo's avatar system Mii, is earning more cash than expected,
say analysts including Ace Research Institute's Hideki Yasuda, who
expects the next two game apps to do even better.
Mr. Moriyasu said the two coming titles are more "pure-game
apps" compared with Miitomo, which has been described as more of a
Facebook-like social-networking service than a game.
Nintendo, which creates its own game devices and ecosystem, had
long resisted joining the mobile-game industry. But its game
devices, including its flagship console Wii U and hand-held 3DS,
have been struggling. Former Nintendo President Satoru Iwata
decided last year to shift the company's strategy and embrace
mobile games. Mr. Iwata died of cancer in July.
Nintendo executives including Shigeru Miyamoto, who is known for
creating famous titles including Donkey Kong, have said console
games would remain the company's main pillar. They have indicated
that mobile games are aimed at increasing the population of
potential customers for Nintendo's traditional offerings. But they
have also said they plan to make mobile games another pillar of the
company to diversify its business portfolio.
In the joint project, Nintendo is in charge of developing games
while DeNA works on the backbone services such as running games
after the launch and analyze user behaviors. They haven't made it
clear how they divide profits from the revenue.
Write to Takashi Mochizuki at takashi.mochizuki@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 11, 2016 08:55 ET (12:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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