Nintendo Moving Away From Mobile Games, New Report Claims

A new report has claimed that Nintendo is moving away from mobile games.

The news comes from a Bloomberg report which claims that Nintendo currently has no new mobile games in development and will not continue to develop for the mobile market due to the underwhelming performance of past mobile games.

After promising to release two to three mobile titles every year back in 2018, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa announced in May that the company is not “looking to continue releasing many new applications for the mobile market” – a statement which led Nintendo’s shares to drop 4% the next day.

Rather than spending time developing new mobile games, Nintendo will now instead focus on supporting its already-released mobile games, and Nintendo’s mobile development partner DeNa Co. has warned not to expect any new mobile releases until the end of the current fiscal year.

Nintendo has released several mobile games including Super Mario Run, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, and the free-to-play Mario Kart. However, the publishing giant has faced criticism for the way it monetises its games and for implementing a $5 subscription to its Mario Kart Tour. This led Nintendo to ask its mobile developers to ease the requirement for players to spend money.

Image Credit: Screenshot, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp Nintendo Mobile