Nintendo so far has adopted a very scattershot approach to monetizing its mobile games- Super Mario Run, the very first mobile game it ever released, came with no microtransactions and in game ads, but just a one time payment of $10. On the other hand, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp was free to play, started out with relatively relaxed monetization, before randomized lootboxes were introduced.

Nintendo’s most successful game on mobiles is Fire Emblem Heroes, which, again, is free to play, and uses RNG gatcha elements to generate money (although at the very least it is reasonably relaxed for more casual players). So does that mean this is it? Nintendo will rely on this kind of monetization for all their mobile games going forward?

Speaking to investors at a general briefing, Nintendo’s former President Tatsumi Kimishima noted that this is categorically not the case, and that the company assesses monetization options on a game by game basis based on many considerations, including the intended target audience.

“When deciding how to charge for a smart-device application, we consider each one individually based on factors like the mechanics of the game, the characteristics of the IP it uses, who we think the consumers will be, their needs, and so on,” he said. “With Fire Emblem Heroes, there are many passionate fans of the series, which is especially popular among consumers in their 20s and 30s. So we set the target age to 13 and older, then aimed for a format that would allow consumers to have a deep enjoyment of the game according to their individual play styles. The way we charge for the game is through the purchase of in-game items called Orbs. Orbs are used in a kind of lottery system that randomly determines which character the user will obtain. That said, we clearly indicate the probabilities for obtaining each character within the game, and we employ a mechanic that prevents consumers from spending very high amounts.

“With regards to the smart-device business, we are pursuing several goals, one of which is increasing the opportunities for consumers all over the world to come into contact with Nintendo IP. Super Mario Run has already been downloaded by over 200 million people worldwide, making it an incredibly important application from the perspective of reaching consumers. Another one of our goals is for this to have a synergistic effect on our integrated hardware and software business. With these sorts of goals, we want to offer applications that meet consumer demands while pursuing payment methods which consumers find to be fair so that this can grow to be a pillar of our business.”

I think in the end it comes down to that- for Nintendo, these mobile games are not necessarily money makers (although, of course, they would like for them to generate revenue), but rather, they are meant to be synergistic with their core offerings on their own hardware. It is a strategy we have seen work for them in the past- remember the increase in 3DS sales, as well as of Pokemon games on it, following Pokemon GO‘s release?- so I can’t even say it is without merit.

Pokemon GO isn’t the only Pokemon game that is making waves on smartphones. While its success is much smaller in scale, Pokemon Quest, the Pokemon game for Nintendo Switch and smartphones by Game Freak (incidentally their very first game ever for those platforms) has also been doing pretty well for itself over the last few weeks since its launch.

The Pokemon Company has announced that the game has hit 7.5 million downloads since its original launch at the end of May. The original release was just for Nintendo Switch, with a release for iOS and Android following at the end of June. The bulk of the downloads have come from the mobile version, it is to be supposed.

Pokemon Quest is free to play, so the number of downloads doesn’t necessarily tell us how much money it has made- still, the more players that the game has, the higher the chances of it making some good money, so I guess it’s off to a good start on that front, if nothing else.

Nintendo and Game Freak’s free to play Pokemon game Pokemon Quest, which was made available on the Nintendo Switch last month, was due to come for mobile devices running iOS and Android some time this month- and now we know when that might be. Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have announced that Pokemon Quest will be launching for Android and iOS smart devices simultaneously on June 27.

The game has managed to find itself a fair bit of success on the Switch, where it was revealed and released without any advance notice and warning. The Pokemon Company announced that the Switch version of the game has been downloaded 2.5 million times since its launch- which is a pretty good result. Though, of course, given that the game is free to play, its true measure of success will be how much money it has managed to generate.

Whatever that may be, it would have a chance of reaching an even larger audience on mobiles, once it launches there next week. If you haven’t played the game already, maybe because you don’t have a Switch (because what other reason do you have to not give a free game at least a try), now’s your chance to give it a go.

Your quest awaits, Trainers! #PokemonQuest is coming to iOS and Android devices on June 27: https://t.co/608bEfLba8 pic.twitter.com/DqBzVtl0dO

— Pokémon (@Pokemon) June 20, 2018

Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee, as well as the announcement of the next mainline Pokemon games for the Switch, may have dominated the news when it comes to the Pokemon events from a few days ago, but Nintendo did announce and release another Pokemon game- Pokemon Quest, a Minecraft style spin off Pokemon RPG, which was announced for the Switch, and then released right after the conference ended, with a mobile release coming in a month.

Today, The Pokemon Company announced that the game has already hit 1 million downloads on the Switch- now, it is important to remember that the game is free to play, so just downloads aren’t necessarily indicative of the game’s larger success, but at the same time, this is undeniable evidence that there is widespread interest in the game.

We will have our own review for the game up soon enough, but meanwhile, it’s free- might not hurt to give it a try. If you don’t like it, you can always delete it, right?

[via Nintendo Life]

The Pokemon company has officially launched yet another title for both mobile phones and the Nintendo Switch. Pokemon Quest is a free to start game that players can currently download for free on Nintendo’s console and on smart devices late next month.

The title utilizes a rather unique cuboid art style and takes place on Tumblecube Island. Players can adventure with and train up any of the original 151 Pokemon in the game, changing their characteristics through the use of Power Stones. While Pokemon has tried a few other outings on Mobile devices since, this is the first to see a push since Pokemon Go.

A recent financial report also shows why Game Freak and The Pokemon Company have leaned so hard into Pokemon Go integration with their latest game, Pokemon Go is still a huge financial success for the company. Despite the player base not nearly being what it was at the height of its popularity, Pokemon Go helped make the company $80.8 Million Dollars through the last fiscal year. By comparison, the company made just $5.7 million the year before Pokemon Go. Are you running to your Switch for Pokemon Quest right now, or will you maybe check it out when it hits app stores? Let us know in the comments.