Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima says company plans to release 2-3 mobile games a year, starting in 2017
While Android users might still be waiting for their chance to play it, Super Mario Run has blasted to the top of Apple's App Store charts and smashed download records.
Context & Ripple Effects
Nintendo's mobile push has been building for two years: the company pledged back in March 2015 that its smartphone games would mostly be developed in-house, and Shigeru Miyamoto later explained why Super Mario Run launched on iOS before any other platform. With that game now topping Apple's App Store charts and breaking download records, president Tatsumi Kimishima is converting a one-off experiment into a stated production cadence of 2-3 mobile titles a year beginning in 2017.
First-order effects
- Nintendo's internal development teams are now committed to a recurring mobile slate rather than a single flagship release, with 2-3 titles due annually from 2017.
- Android users remain locked out of Super Mario Run even as it dominates Apple's charts, leaving the larger installed base waiting on an iOS-first strategy.
Second-order effects
- Apple gains a marquee exclusive that drives App Store traffic and reinforces its gatekeeper position, while Google faces pressure to close the gap on Nintendo's catalog.
- The pay-once pricing model Nintendo chose for Super Mario Run becomes the test case for whether premium console IP can monetize on mobile without freemium mechanics.
Third-order effects
- The record shows the cadence was hard to sustain: Kimishima later admitted Super Mario Run's revenues fell short of expectations, and by 2023 Miyamoto said mobile apps would not be the primary path for future Mario games — pointing to a structural ceiling where console-first IP owners use mobile as marketing reach, not a core business.
The trend: Premium console publishers are treating mobile as a controlled extension of their franchises rather than a replacement business, with download success proving easier to achieve than durable mobile revenue.